Ebola outbreak that has killed 75 in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ‘the potential to be the worst ever seen’
International Rescue Committee fears deaths will outstrip the 2014 pandemic
More than 11,000 people were killed by the virus when it decimated West Africa
Aid workers are battling round-the-clock to contain the outbreak in North Kivu
Figures show 111 patients have been struck down so far, of which 75 have died
By STEPHEN MATTHEWS
DAILYMAIL.COM
30 August 2018
The Ebola outbreak that has killed 75 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo since it began four weeks ago has the ‘potential to be the worst ever seen’.
An agency that responds to humanitarian crises fears it will trump the pandemic of 2014, which killed 11,000 and decimated West Africa.
The International Rescue Committee said: ‘Without a swift, concerted and efficient response, this outbreak has the potential to be the worst ever seen.’
Aid workers are battling round-the-clock to contain the outbreak, feared to have struck 111 people in the east of the DRC, on the border with Uganda.
Experimental drugs have been shipped into the area to control the virus, considered to be one of the most lethal pathogens in existence.
Virologists have repeatedly warned the situation is ‘hard to control’ because cases are in a conflict zone, roamed by armed militias.
And yesterday, Dr Tedros Adhanom, chief of the World Health Organization ramped up the warnings over its potential rapid spread.
Several areas close to the outbreak’s epicentre in the town of Mangina are off-limits to health workers for security reasons.
Dr Tedros Adhanom told news agency Reuters: ‘If one case is hidden in the red zone or an inaccessible area, it’s dangerous. It can just spark a fire, just one case.’
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