Ngoy Nsenga, a leading expert at the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ebola response team, told Sputnik that there was enough medical personnel working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight the new Ebola outbreak, however, operational costs were high given the complicated access to the outbreak's epicenter in the Mbandaka province
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th June, 2020) Ngoy Nsenga, a leading expert at the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ebola response team, told Sputnik that there was enough medical personnel working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight the new Ebola outbreak, however, operational costs were high given the complicated access to the outbreak's epicenter in the Mbandaka province.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed on June 1 that of the six registered patients in Mbandaka, four have died.
"Taking into consideration the context of the DRC, it will be more on financial support for now ... The area that is affected right now by Ebola is hard to reach, so it poses logistic challenges. All the materials have to come through Kinshasa, then be airlifted to Mbandaka, which is not less than a one-hour lift. Then also being carried and sometimes lifted by choppers helicopters. The logistics are very heavy in that area; that will certainly increase the operational costs as well," Nsenga said.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 outbreak in the Central African nation, while a challenge, may actually prove a blessing in disguise, as the capacities developed to treat coronavirus patients could be used to halt the spread of Ebola as well, according to the response team leader.
"When you are battling several diseases, several outbreaks at the same time in a country it's always a challenge. It means that you have to spread your resources ... kind of strength of capacity that can be used to combat Ebola," Nsenga said, adding that so far most of the COVID-19 cases have been registered in the capital city of Kinshasa, far from the Mbandaka province.
The DRC has confirmed a total of 4,390 coronavirus cases, 565 recoveries and 96 deaths.
The Central African country was expected to declare the end of the Ebola epidemic, which started two years ago and has claimed more than 2,200 lives, in April. However, more than 50 days after the region's last Ebola patient recovered on March 27, a new case was reported in the eastern region of Kivu. The patient died on April 10.
