U.S. Concerned Over DRC Ebola Outbreak, Anonymous USAID Official Says; U.N. Warns Situation ‘Remains Dangerous, Unpredictable’

Reuters: U.S. concerned about Ebola outbreak in Congo conflict zone: official
“The United States is worried about the outbreak of Ebola in conflict-hit eastern Congo where there are 312 confirmed and probable cases and 191 deaths, a USAID official said on Thursday. … The USAID official said the United States had deployed over two dozen technical experts to the country to work with Congo’s health ministry since the outbreak was first reported in August. Since then, the United States had also deployed disaster and health experts from USAID and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The official declined to give specifics about responses and funding because of the security threat from armed groups…” (Wroughton, 11/8).

U.N. News: Ebola outbreak in DR Congo conflict zone ‘remains dangerous and unpredictable’ — U.N. chiefs
“While new measures to tackle the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are working, the epidemic remains dangerous and unpredictable, the United Nations said on Thursday. In a joint mission to the epicenter of the outbreak, around the city of Beni close to the Ugandan border, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), and U.N. [Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations] Jean-Pierre Lacroix spent Wednesday seeing conditions on the ground for themselves, along with Minister of Health Oly Ilunga Kalenga. They met local officials, health workers, civil society leaders, and peacekeepers…” (11/8).

Additional coverage of the DRC Ebola outbreak and response is available from Bloomberg, CIDRAP News, CNN, and VOA News.

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