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WORLD NEWS Thursday 25 July 2019

Ebola vaccine hampered by deep distrust in eastern Congo

By KRISTA LARSON visit while the military bat-
Associated Press tled ADF rebels, who are
BENI, Congo (AP) — Un- linked to the Islamic State.
til his last breath, Salomon More often, though, con-
Nduhi Kambale insisted tact lists have fallen apart
he had been poisoned by simply because people
someone and that was have deliberately evaded
the reason he was vomit- health workers or did not
ing blood. The 30-year-old understand they shouldn't
man wouldn't give com- travel after being exposed.
munity health teams his A pastor who became
phone number, and when the first confirmed case in
they found it, he hung up Goma had apparently put
on them. down fake names at health
Health workers were des- checkpoints to avoid de-
perate to persuade him to tection.
get vaccinated for Ebola He had been sickened in
after a friend fell ill with the the town of Butembo and
lethal and highly conta- then took a bus while ill.
gious disease. With Ebola's arrival in
But within days, Nduhi was Goma, a city of more than
dead. His widow and their 2 million people, some
four young children were wonder whether there will
given his positive Ebola test In this Sunday, July 14, 2019 photo, burial workers dressed in protective gear carry the remains of be enough of the vaccine
result and a chilling warn- Mussa Kathembo, an Islamic scholar who had prayed over those who were sick, in Beni, Congo. if the outbreak continues.
ing from a team of health Associated Press The vaccine's manufac-
workers: "If you don't ac- During the 2014-16 Ebola excludes those who dis- hostility. turer, Merck, said it has
cept vaccination, you can epidemic in West Africa, trusted health workers and "The rumors were if you got 245,000 1-millileter doses on
prepare to die." which left more than 11,300 fled, or those who couldn't vaccinated you would die," hand and that could rise
Deep distrust — along with people dead, health work- be found in the first place. said Liboke Kakule Muhingi, to 900,000 over the next 18
political instability and ers could only dream of a Health workers have been a 43-year-old farmer in months. The dose in Congo
deadly violence — has se- vaccine with a 97.5 per- using what is known as a Mangina, where the epi- also has been reduced to
verely undermined efforts cent effectiveness rate that ring vaccination strategy: demic began last August. 0.5 mL, effectively doubling
by public health authorities could improve the odds of The vaccine is first given His mother was among the the supply.
in Congo to curb the out- survival even in those al- to those who were in close first to die. Then, one by "Whether or not the avail-
break by tracing and vac- ready infected. contact with a sick person. one, six of his sisters who able doses are sufficient
cinating those who may "We have it now and it's not Then a second so-called had cared for their ailing to fulfill the demands de-
have come into contact the miracle we wanted it ring is created by giving mother were killed by Eb- pends on the evolution of
with infected people. to be," said Dr. Joanne Liu, the vaccine to those who ola. Kakule accepted the the outbreak, the access
Health experts agree the president of Doctors With- were in contact with those vaccine and made sure his to the communities and
experimental Ebola vac- out Borders. "The fact that people. wife and eight children got the successful expansion of
cine has saved multitudes we've used so much vac- Because of the difficulties in it, too. the production of addition-
in Congo. But after nearly cine, and the epidemic making that strategy work, "If I hadn't, we'd all be al doses by Merck in early
a year and some 171,000 hasn't stopped, that shows some people didn't get dead," he said. 2020," WHO said.
doses given, the epidemic us that contact tracing is vaccinated until they had In some cases, health There is a second experi-
shows few signs of waning. not great." already been infected with teams have been unable mental vaccine, produced
The virus has killed more WHO says as many as 90 the virus, and they devel- to reach certain areas be- by Johnson & Johnson, but
than 1,700 people and has percent of those eligible for oped Ebola anyway. cause of violence or rebel health officials in Congo
now arrived in the region's vaccination have accept- That increased doubts activity. have said it will not be used
largest city, Goma. The ed it, but that figure only about the vaccine in com- Earlier this month, the head because it needs further
World Health Organization includes those who gave munities where the pub- of the Congolese health testing and would cause
last week declared the contact tracers enough lic health campaigns led ministry's response efforts in too much confusion. It re-
outbreak a global health information to be included by outsiders already were Beni was at one point un- quires two doses given one
emergency. on a list. The success rate viewed with suspicion and able to return from a field month apart.q