WHO chief visits town at the epicentre of Ebola outbreak in DR Congo

The head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived in the town of Bunia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday.

It is the capital of Ituri Province, the epicentre of the current outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus which is already present in three of the country’s eastern provinces.

There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, including 246 deaths.

In neighbouring Uganda, there are nine confirmed infections of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, including one death.

Speaking on his arrival in Bunia, Tedros called on communities to play a central role in fighting the disease.

He said while the international community was involved, under the leadership of Kinshasa, communities understand the problems better and know the solution as well.

Tedros said the WHO was there to discuss with people, to see how the response was running, and if there were challenges to help.

The director-general has been in the DRC since Thursday to coordinate the response to the Ebola outbreak.

He called for more international support for the response, saying the WHO had so far received only a third of its funding requirements.

The WHO has warned that the true reach of the outbreak in the DRC, which is thought to have been circulating before it was detected, is likely to be much wider.