WHO calls for community cooperation to contain Ebola outbreak in DRC

A health worker at the Evangelical Medical Center, where teams are responding to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters View image in fullscreen A health worker at the Evangelical Medical Center, where teams are responding to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters WHO calls for community cooperation to contain Ebola outbreak in DRC Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus makes appeal after protests against protocols for handling victims’ bodies in Ituri province Containing the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo requires community cooperation and is “everybody’s business”, the World Health Organization has said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , the organisation’s director general, made the plea on Sunday during a visit to eastern Congo where some residents have protested against stringent medical protocols for handling victims’ bodies. “We can stop this Ebola and anyone who has it can also recover. But the rule … is this thing is everybody’s business and every citizen should be involved,” Ghebreyesus said at the opening of a treatment centre in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, which is at the centre of the outbreak. Protesters have complained restrictions on handling victims’ bodies violate local burial rites, a sentiment that has been linked to at least three attacks against health centres. WHO puts Ebola outbreak death rate at ‘huge’ 30-50% as chief arrives in DRC Read more There is no vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus, the strain behind the current outbreak, but infected people can recover, according to Ghebreyesus. He said: “If you come to health facilities when you have symptoms, you can get the support and recover, so the key is to come forward as early as possible and to get the necessary support.” View image in fullscreen WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus washes his hands at the Evangelical Medical Center. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters Five patients have recovered and four were to be discharged on Sunday, after the earlier discharge of the other patient, the WHO chief said. The organisation has recorded 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths in the DRC. Authorities in neighbouring Uganda have confirmed nine cases and one death. Fighting between rival armed groups in the mineral-rich Ituri region has complicated relief efforts, prompting Ghebreyesus to call for a ceasefire, saying: “No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease.” Burials and tears as Ebola outbreak continues to spread in DRC – in pictures Read more Brazilian health authorities said they are monitoring two patients for possible Ebola infection in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. A 37-year-old man from DRC “exhibited symptoms such as fever, meeting the definition of a suspected case” of Ebola, the São Paulo state government said in a statement on Saturday. The health