Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Aug. 14, 2018. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that he's even more worried about the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) after his recent visit to the country, mainly because of the intense security challenge in the virus-hit areas.
At a press conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the ongoing active conflict in the North Kivu province of the DR Congo, where the latest Ebola outbreak emerged, has been really conducive for the deadly virus to spread freely.
There are more than 100 armed groups in the province and about 120 violent incidents since January alone, Tedros said, adding that there was even a fighting within just 15 km from where he stayed in Beni, a major city in North Kivu, during his trip to the country.
"We call on the warring parties for cessation of hostilities, because the virus is dangerous to all. It doesn't choose between this group or that group," he said.
As the region was sprinkled with so-called "red zones", or inaccessible areas where Ebola could hide, and with a high population density and movement in the region which has already hosted more than one million internally displaced people, it has posed a huge challenge for the WHO and partners to deliver urgently needed support to the area, Tedros warned.
So far the deadly virus has caused a death toll of 41, and among the 75 reported cases, 30 have been confirmed to be Ebola positive, including seven medical staff, and 27 to be probable. Tedros called for more aggressive and more flexible means during the fight against the virus.
Currently, the WHO has started a vaccination operation in the outbreak area.
There are already more than 3,000 vaccines on the ground, which could be bumped up to 300,000 in a short notice, Tedros said.
