Burundi heightens border surveillance with DRC over Ebola concerns

Should we fear an Ebola epidemic in Burundi? The country is not taking chances with the haemorrhagic fever.

Burundi authorities have stepped up health controls along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo increasing surveillance and safety procedures on the border movement.

After confirmed cases of the virus in the Congolese area of South Kivu, international authorities and organisations are raising awareness about the spread of the haemorrhagic fever disease to neighbouring countries.

“We were accompanied by representatives of certain international organizations that closely monitor human health issues, and this is quite normal because if Burundi were also to be affected by cases of Ebola…

“… we understand that this is a problem that would have come from elsewhere. So to say, Ebola is not a national issue, it is an international issue,’‘ said Joseph Butore, second, vice president of Burundi.

Burundi has vaccinated its health workers on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in which the virus has already killed nearly 1,900 people in one year, according to the World Health Organization.