Attacks leave 45 Ebola response, aid workers wounded in DR Congo — UN
According to health authorities, unidentified attackers raided an Ebola treatment center on Monday in Butembo, North Kivu province, setting fire to part of the facility.
According to Kamba, Ituri remains in an acute growth phase of the outbreak, while North Kivu Province is also still seeing an active increase in cases.
GENEVA - Escalating violence has injured 45 response and aid workers since the mid-May Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians said Wednesday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said its partners recorded the injuries in 76 security incidents targeting Ebola response personnel and other aid workers across the Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
OCHA said it is deeply concerned by escalating violence against Ebola responders, which is undermining efforts to contain the outbreak in the eastern DRC.
The United Nations and its partners continue to step up efforts to engage with community leaders, local authorities, civil society representatives and affected communities to address concerns, counter misinformation, and foster broader understanding of response efforts.
"The UN reiterates its call for the protection of health workers, treatment facilities and response teams," OCHA said. "Without a secure environment that enables humanitarians and health workers to carry out their life-saving work, efforts to detect cases, trace contacts and provide life-saving care will be severely compromised."
The office said that as of Monday, national health authorities reported 1,708 confirmed Ebola cases across Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
The outbreak has continued to expand geographically, with confirmed cases now reported in Boga Health Zone in Ituri.
Two more provinces affected, DR Congo Ebola outbreak remains "very active"- health minister.
Health authorities have observed patients moving from affected areas toward Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo Province, and the Wamba area in Haut-Uele Province, bringing the two provinces into the scope of the outbreak response, Kamba said in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.
"We are still in an active, even very active, phase of the disease," Kamba said while reviewing the national response. Given the high population density, strong mobility, and local factors complicating community engagement in affected areas, he said it was still impossible to determine when the outbreak would reach its peak.
According to Kamba, Ituri remains in an acute growth phase of the outbreak, while North Kivu Province is also still seeing an active increase in cases.
The spread to additional areas, he said, underscores the need to strengthen surveillance at entry points and checkpoints, and to limit high-risk movements as much as possible.
He added that the outbreak could soon be declared over in South Kivu Province, which has reported no new cases since May 26, according to a situation report released Wednesday.