The current Ebola outbreak is worsening, alarming most health officials. The outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus has caused rulers to impose travel restrictions and emergency responses as suspected cases continue to grow.
The outbreak has revived international concern not only because of Ebola’s deadly reputation, but also because of other situations that are making it difficult to track and contain. The involvement of the rare Bundibugyo strain is the primary cause for concern, although violence and displacement are also playing a role in the spread.
According to a report by Forbes, frontline health workers are said to be “risking everything” in an attempt to contain this “catastrophic” Ebola outbreak.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 900 suspected Ebola cases have now been registered across the DR Congo, including 101 laboratory-confirmed infections. In neighboring Uganda, health authorities have confirmed five cases and one death linked to the virus.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said response efforts are being hampered by delays in identifying cases, warning that health authorities are effectively being forced to “play catch-up” as the outbreak expands, according to a report by RT. Suspected deaths linked to the virus have already surpassed 220.
The WHO still continues to assess the international threat level as low, but it has raised the risk assessment inside the DR Congo from “high” to “very high.”
The latest outbreak has primarily affected eastern regions of the DR Congo, where healthcare systems already face pressure from armed violence, mass displacement, and limited infrastructure. –RT
The WHO has classified the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, reviving memories of past Ebola epidemics that overwhelmed fragile healthcare systems and triggered international alarm.
The risk to Americans and others is still low; however, one American has been confirmed to have contracted the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola during this outbreak.
Dr. Peter Stafford, an American missionary who contracted Ebola while working in Congo and is now being treated in Germany, is “doing a lot better,” his colleague and fellow evacuee tells the Washington Post.
This virus is spreading rapidly, and while it isn’t of a major concern in the United States yet, it is only just beginning, and containment looks impossible right now.