At least 30 dead at DRC displacement camp amid growing Ebola threat
At least 30 people have died since May at the Kigonze displacement camp in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a report from Al Jazeera, as health authorities warn of a resurgent Ebola threat in a region already strained by years of armed conflict and mass displacement.
A vulnerable population in a fragile region
The Kigonze camp is among several informal and semi-formal settlements that have emerged in eastern DRC as fighting between armed groups and government forces has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes. Conditions in such camps are widely documented as dire, with limited access to clean water, sanitation, food and medical care. Humanitarian organisations have repeatedly warned that the crowding and poor hygiene conditions typical of displacement sites create ideal circumstances for the spread of infectious diseases.
The shadow of Ebola
Health officials in the DRC are no strangers to Ebola. The country has endured more than a dozen recorded outbreaks of the virus, including the 2018–2020 epidemic in North Kivu and Ituri provinces that killed more than 2,000 people and was declared one of the most complex public health emergencies in recent history. The disease, which causes severe bleeding and organ failure and can kill a high proportion of those infected, is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of symptomatic individuals, making containment difficult in densely populated settings.
Compounding crises
The eastern provinces of the DRC have for decades been plagued by the activities of dozens of armed groups, ranging from local militias to foreign-backed rebels. The resulting insecurity has complicated the work of medical teams and humanitarian responders, making it difficult to reach affected communities, trace contacts of infected patients, or distribute vaccines. Previous Ebola response efforts in the region have been hampered by attacks on health workers and facilities, as well as by community mistrust of outside medical personnel.
An uncertain outlook
Without significant improvements in security, sanitation and access to healthcare, public health experts warn that displacement camps in eastern DRC remain particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases. International agencies have called for sustained funding and unimpeded humanitarian access to prevent a wider health emergency from unfolding in one of the world’s most fragile humanitarian contexts.
Source: Al Jazeera — read the original report.
