The World Health Organization has raised the public health risk from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo from ‘high’ to ‘very high’ as infections and deaths continue to rise.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the risk was now considered “very high at the national level, high at the regional level and low at the global level.”
The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no approved vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.
According to the WHO, there are 82 confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths in DR Congo, although the suspected figures are significantly higher.
Scientists at the University of Oxford are now developing a potential vaccine based on the same technology used for the AstraZeneca Covid jab.
Animal testing is already underway and clinical trials could begin within months.
The WHO says violence and insecurity in eastern DR Congo are hampering efforts to contain the outbreak.
Tedros warned that it is crucial to build public trust as fear spreads across the affected areas.
Local politician Luc Malembe Malembe told the BBC that angry relatives attacked a hospital after staff refused to release the body of an Ebola victim due to contamination risks.
“They even set fire to tents used as isolation wards,” he said.
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