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WORLD NEWS Monday 13 august 2018

Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak taking place in a war zone

By AL-HADJI KUDRA Congolese police and mili-
MALIRO tary police.
Associated Press “This will be a highly com-
BENI, Congo (AP) — High- plex operation because
lighting the dangers in con- it is occurring in an area
taining an Ebola outbreak that has been embroiled
in a war zone, suspected in armed conflict for 20
rebels killed seven people years,” said Hanna Leskin-
in northeastern Congo and en, a spokeswoman for the
sent residents fleeing, an International Committee of
official said. the Red Cross. “People are
Global health officials have regularly moving as waves
warned that combating of violence force new com-
this virus outbreak is com- munities to flee. This makes
plicated by multiple armed tracing infected cases
groups in the mineral-rich much harder.” Health care
region and a restless popu- workers may be forced to
lation that includes 1 mil- flee as well, she said.
lion displaced people and Parts of North Kivu province,
scores of refugees leaving where most of the Ebola
for nearby Uganda every cases have been reported,
week. have been inaccessible to
The insecurity means aid groups because of the
health workers might have A police officer stand guards at a newly established Ebola response center in Beni, Democratic fighting, Leskinen said.
to change a vaccination Republic of Congo, Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. “It is critical that the dis-
strategy that proved suc- Associated Press ease is contained before
cessful in Congo’s previous While Congo’s previous ready had been shaken by Ebola,” Tedros said in a it spreads to areas where
Ebola outbreak, the World Ebola outbreak, declared the discovery last week of Twitter post Saturday night. there is more active fight-
Health Organization’s over barely a week before 14 bodies of civilians who “I call on all warring parties ing or it will be incredibly
emergency preparedness the current one began, had been seized by sus- to provide secure access challenging to reach those
chief Peter Salama said set off alarm by spread- pected ADF rebels. to all responders serving af- in need (and) ensure safe
Saturday. ing to a city of more than The latest attack occurred fected populations & sav- vaccination campaigns,”
The “ring vaccination” ap- 1 million on the other side as the WHO director-gener- ing lives.” she said. That includes
proach of first vaccinating of the country, the current al, Tedros Adhanom Ghe- United Nations peace- keeping the vaccines at
health workers, contacts outbreak comes with the breyesus, was visiting the keepers, Congolese police the optimal temperature
of Ebola victims and their threat of armed attack. area to see the response to and at times Congolese of minus 70 degrees Celsius
contacts might have to The Friday night assault the Ebola outbreak, which troops have been travel- (minus 158 degrees Fahr-
give way to the approach that killed seven people in is being carried out in some ing with convoys of health enheit), a challenge in a
of vaccinating everyone Mayi-Moya, about 40 kilo- cases under armed escort. workers as they fan out to region with hot tempera-
in a certain geographic meters (24 miles) from Beni “The active conflict in the contain the outbreak. tures and unreliable power
area such as a village or city, was likely carried out area is a barrier to control Hospitals are guarded by supplies.q
neighborhood. That would by rebels with the Allied
require a larger number of Democratic Forces, the ad-
vaccine doses. ministrator of Beni territory,
Vaccinations began Donat Kibwana, told The
Wednesday in the cur- Associated Press.
rent outbreak, which was The rebels have killed more
declared on Aug. 1 and than 1,500 people in and
has killed 11 people in the around Beni in less than
densely populated region. two years.
WHO has said more than The rebels sent the local
3,000 Ebola vaccine doses population fleeing, Kibwa-
are available in Congo. na said. Beni residents al-