Why are experts warning that the latest Ebola outbreak could be ‘worse than ever’? | | News about Ebola

It’s deadly The spread of the Ebola virus East Africa may be the “worst” in history, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, he has warned.

Kaseya sounded the alarm on Tuesday at a meeting of African leaders and aid organizations in Burundi.

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At least 837 people have been sickened at the peak of the epidemic, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while 196 people have died, the government said. In neighboring Uganda, 19 people have died.

“If we don’t stop the spread soon, it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and in the east of the DRC,” said Kaseya, referring to the spread of the virus in West Africa in 2014, which killed more than 11,000 people, and another in the DRC in 2018 that caused more than 2,00 deaths.

Here’s what we know and why health officials fear the outbreak could worsen:

What is Ebola?

Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can be fatal. It is spread through bodily fluids, and victims remain highly contagious after death.

Three known strains of the virus are responsible for widespread outbreaks of the disease: Zaire virus, Sudan virus and Bundibugyo virus, which have caused the current outbreak.

The crisis in Zaire led to previous epidemics in the DRC and in West Africa.

Both Zaire and Bundibugyo have high death rates between 30 percent and 50 percent.

The West African epidemic was the largest in history: It spread to several countries and sickened about 29,000 people between 2014 and 2016, including citizens of Italy and the United States. Two vaccine and an experimental Zaire strain was developed.

In the 2018-2020 outbreak in the DRC, the second largest, approximately 3,400 people became ill. However, officials administered more than 300,000 vaccinations and sent official medical aid.

How is this recent epidemic different?

Although the Bundibugyo virus has already started – in 2007 and 2012 in the east of the DRC – it is much rarer than other types of Ebola, and currently there is no vaccine or approved treatment for the disease, although these are at the beginning of development. Vaccines designed to combat the Zaire form cannot be used to prevent Bundibugyo without testing and approval by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Experts say that the problem is still being ignored because it is rare.

“It is not something that attracts the attention of the research and development of pharmaceutical companies, the companies that are developing vaccines,” Trish Newport, deputy director of the Ebola program in the DRC of Doctors Without Borders, known for its founders French MSF, told Al Jazeera.

“For them, they don’t see it as a priority. That’s one of the reasons why it wasn’t put on the priority list, why there weren’t resources and why it’s only being tested right now.”

Why would this be the ‘worst’ Ebola outbreak?

First, because there is no approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo, health workers have no other option than to deal with the symptoms of a serious illness like they would with a flu epidemic.

This outburst also comes against the backdrop of an ongoing conflict.

Eastern DRC, where the virus spreads, has become a battleground where armed forces, especially militias The M23 gangthey are fighting the government forces despite international efforts to end the conflict. This makes it difficult for health workers to travel to the area to track the spread of the disease or to provide care to those infected who may be in areas where there are terrorist groups or refugee camps.

As a result, officials say, the virus is spreading faster than medical workers can travel, and hundreds of people were already ill when the WHO declared a public health emergency in mid-May. Officials fear that there are many cases that have gone undiagnosed.

On Tuesday, Keseya told Al Jazeera that thousands may have been infected but have not been found.

“The search is a big sign and a big problem,” he said. We are missing more than 26,000 people, and we don’t know where they are, and we don’t know if they are polluting other people.

The virus has already spread from the Ituri trading area in the DRC to North and South Kivu, crossing the Ugandan border.

According to WHO officials, cases are being found in new areas in the affected regions of the DRC “about a day”, which shows the increase in the local population.

Adding to all of this is the stigma and stigma that is spreading over Ebola in the DRC. Many believe that the disease is a way for the government to waste money. Some refuse to report their symptoms at all because of the disbelief or shame surrounding being an Ebola patient.

People have also expressed anger at not being able to bury themselves in accordance with the traditions of their ancestors, and sometimes the anger goes to health officials. At the beginning of June, angry youths who wanted to remove their dead relatives to bury them entered the hospital and set fire to the treatment tents and other medical equipment.

International intervention is limited this time, compared to the early expansion of West Africa.

In 2014, donors around the world responded with caution $5.9bn and $8.9bn about money and support for workers. The US military also helped Liberia with aid stations.

This time, the President of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is the chairman of the African Union, said that one fifth of the $518m needed to fight the epidemic has been raised so far.

The latest outbreak comes at a time when international cooperation on health and aid is being shaken, mainly due to the reduction of US foreign aid at the beginning of the term of President Donald Trump and the subsequent closure of the United States Agency for International Development.USAID), which supported many health programs overseas. European donors have also reduced aid in the past year.

The local response in the DRC has also been hampered by the limited number of isolation centers, which help to limit transmission routes. There is also a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, and at least four health workers have died after contracting the disease.

MSF’s Newport said that while funding is needed to fight the disease, it must also continue to address the needs of the Ebola community in order to maintain the trust of the community.

“We need to make sure people have access to non-Ebola treatment, to access water,” he said. “Ebola may be a priority for the organizations that are funding the response, but it’s not the priority for the people there, and we need to listen to the population.”