The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has expressed concerns over the continuous surge of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighbouring Uganda, warning that more infections are expected in the coming weeks.
Tedros made this known in an update posted on his X platform on Tuesday.
He claimed that there are currently 101 confirmed instances of the Ebola Bundibugyo virus in the DRC, including 10 confirmed deaths.
With over 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths already reported, he pointed out that the true scope of the pandemic was much larger.
He also said that Uganda had reported two more confirmed cases among medical professionals, increasing the number of confirmed infections in the nation to seven, including one fatality.
According to the WHO head, health officials and partners are stepping up efforts to contain the outbreak and stop the deadly virus from spreading further.
“We anticipate identifying more cases in the upcoming days and weeks, and we are continuing to scale up the response with our partners,” he said.
In order to stop the outbreak, Tedros emphasised the significance of quick case discovery and contact tracing.
He said, “The sooner we can track down infected individuals and identify their contacts, the sooner we can give them the care they require and bring this outbreak under control.”
