BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The World Health Organization chief said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and now poses a “very high” risk there, as a lack of medical resources and anger among the population hamper the response in a vulnerable and conflict-ridden region.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising upward its assessment of the risk within Congo from its previous categorization of “high.” The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been confirmed in Congo, with seven confirmed deaths, though he said the outbreak is believed to be “much larger.” He said there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. Supplies were being rushed to Ituri province in the northeastern corner of the country, where the illness has been spreading for weeks in areas were many people have been displaced by armed conflict.Frontline medical staff have struggled with a lack of resources and, in some cases, pushback due to what has been characterized as misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites.
Response clashes with local customsOn Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police. Bodies of Ebola victims can be highly contagious, and medical authorities are trying to control burials whenever possible. Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation.“We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.She said some churches have told their large congregations that the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary.
