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BUNIA, Congo: The number of confirmed cases of Ebola virus in Congo has surged past 8,000, as the country runs out of health workers to contain the deadly disease, officials said Monday. The outbreak is the country\u2019s 17th and its deadliest.<\/p>\n
Congo announced an outbreak on May 15, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine, and has struggled to contain it.<\/p>\n
The latest data from Congo\u2019s health ministry released Sunday showed that 8,067 cases have been confirmed, with 3,901 deaths as of Sept. 26 across 63 health zones in seven of the country\u2019s 26 provinces, with a fatality rate of more than 48 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe continuously high crude case fatality ratio, and especially the continuously high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care,\u201d the World Health Organization said in its latest report.<\/p>\n
It means that a large percentage of those infected were dying, without taking into account factors like delays in seeking help or hidden cases.<\/p>\n
Official of ruling party attacked for defending Ebola measures<\/p>\n
An official of Congo\u2019s ruling party UDPS, Marie-C\u00e9lestin Karondwa, was attacked by unknown suspects Sunday for defending the government\u2019s measures against Ebola on a radio program and was in critical condition, according to the UDPS.<\/p>\n
Karondwa is the acting president of the party\u2019s federal executive in Butembo in North Kivu province, one of the hot spots of the outbreak. He was attacked \u201cby alleged troublemakers from his neighborhood, Vulindi,\u201d the party said. The party called on the government to investigate the attack.<\/p>\n
The rapid spread of Ebola has been aided from the onset by widespread skepticism among locals who have dismissed the disease as a hoax, even attacking health workers and health facilities on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n
Ebola measures impacting other health services<\/p>\n
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday that the outbreak has begun to have an impact on other essential services in the hot spots as resources are mobilized toward fighting Ebola. According to OCHA\u2019s report, routine primary health care services fell by 13 percent between April and June in Ituri province alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe indirect impact of the outbreak reflects both reduced health service availability \u2014 as a result of staffing and operational pressures \u2014 and reduced demand, as fear of infection and isolation discourages care-seeking,\u201d OCHA said.<\/p>\n
Last week, WHO said that Congo was running out of health workers to contain the disease. Health workers have complained about delayed or missing payments, triggering several strikes. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 health workers have died since the outbreak was announced.<\/p>\n
Some areas have shown signs of improvement, with fewer confirmed cases in the past several weeks, including in Ituri province and Haut-Uele, but officials say the disease is spreading further in other areas, expanding its geographical reach.<\/p>\n
According to data from the Africa CDC, the current outbreak has outpaced the two-year West Africa regional outbreak in terms of spread in the same time. By week 19, the regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016 recorded 3,781 cases, while the current outbreak recorded 7,840. WHO said that it\u2019s on track to surpass the regional outbreak, which killed 11,000 people.<\/p>\n
Containment efforts have also been hamstrung by insecurity, displacement, a health workers\u2019 strike and intense population movements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n