Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is feared to have killed 27 people is a ‘race against time’, aid worker warns
Officials have already branded the fresh outbreak a ‘public health emergency’
International help has flooded in as aid workers battle to contain the outbreak
Paul Jawor works for Doctors Without Borders and Médecins Sans Frontières
The water and sanitation expert has just returned home the African nation
By STEPHEN MATTHEWS
DAILYMAIL.COM
8 June 2018
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is feared to have killed 27 people is a ‘race against time’, an aid worker has warned.
Paul Jawor, who has just returned home from the African nation, admitted he was ‘very scared’ about the killer virus in a written account of his time on the ground.
Officials in the DRC have already branded the fresh outbreak, which has seen 62 suspected cases, a ‘public health emergency’.
International help has flooded in as aid workers desperately battle to contain the outbreak. A mass vaccination campaign has also begun.
All neighbouring countries have been placed on high alert and Angola earlier this week shut a segment of its border to stop the spread of Ebola – considered one of the most lethal pathogens in existence.
Virologists fear the outbreak is ‘reminiscent’ of the 2014 Ebola pandemic, which decimated West Africa and killed more than 11,000 people.
Mr Jawor, a Doctors Without Borders and Médecins Sans Frontières water and sanitation expert, was sent to the DRC on May 20.
He said: ‘With an outbreak like this, it’s a race against time, as one Ebola patient with symptoms can infect several people every day.
‘The best way to contain the disease is to put all measures in place as soon as possible.’
In a report on the DWB website, he spoke of his time battling Ebola in the Equateur province – where the current outbreak is focused.
The outbreak appears to be slowing down. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom today told Reuters: ‘It’s stabilising. We’re optimistic, cautiously optimistic.
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