There’s growing concern over an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 130 people have died in the country from the disease and there are more than 500 suspected cases, with at least two now also confirmed in neighbouring Uganda.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said while it is not a pandemic, it is an “international emergency” which could be "much larger" than what has already been detected. It's urging countries across the world not to be complacent about it spreading.
Th epicentre of the new outbreak is Ituri Province in the east of the country. It comes amid an already fragile humanitarian situation marked by massive population displacement, persistent insecurity, and limited access to basic healthcare services.
Christian humanitarian organisation World Vision said children are among the groups most exposed to the threat of contracting the disease.
Twenty-six million people in Ituri Province are affected by food insecurity, with 4.2 million of those being children. Meanwhile, 900,000 people in the region have also been displaced through conflict.
World Vision’s national director for the DRC, Philippe Guiton told Premier: “The Ebola comes on top of multiple layers of crises over about 30 years. This region of eastern Congo, has been at war, and now on top of high food insecurity, a pandemic and m-pox, we have Ebola.”
He said most people remember the Ebola outbreak between 2018 and 2019 in which more than 2,200 people in Ituri Province died. “People are very scared," he explained.
"Children are obviously more at risk than adults because they are already weak with poor access to healthcare.”
The newly identified Ebola variant does not match any previously known strain and currently has no vaccine available. World Vision said it is working closely with health authorities to try to limit the spread of the outbreak and save lives, particularly through hygiene promotion, with a special focus on areas hosting increasing numbers of internally displaced people.
David Munkley, the charity's east zone director, also stressed the urgency of a rapid response. “Ituri is already facing an alarming situation of acute malnutrition, combined with extremely limited access to healthcare in remote areas," he said. "A rapid and coordinated response will help save lives and reach the greatest number of affected people."
Guiton added that during the previous Ebola outbreak churches played a vital role in raising awareness of how to prevent and treat the disease. “What we did was to mobilise faith leaders, particularly churches, to pass messages against the disease... how to prevent the disease against stigmatisation, and it was quite efficient."
“God cares about everyone, and I think God is using us as a Christian organisation to go and reach the most vulnerable, which are the children in eastern Congo," he said.
"We are demonstrating God's love on a daily basis by activities around children and displaced people. But we really need God's intervention because we don't have any influence on conflict. We are just there to help the people. So we need God to intervene. Please pray for peace.”