The World Health Organization on Tuesday revealed that the number of suspected Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has plunged.
Authorities attributed hundreds of potential cases to other diseases or fevers, bringing the latest number of suspected Ebola cases to 116, down from 906 recorded last week.
Recommended Stories
“They have been cleared out and have either other diseases or have just had fever and nothing else,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva, explaining how officials have ruled out suspected cases.
There are 321 confirmed cases in the Congo, and nine confirmed cases in neighboring Uganda, according to the WHO. The Ugandan Health Ministry has confirmed six new cases, bringing the total confirmed in the country to 15.
Officials believe 48 people have died from Ebola in Congo, and one person has died from the virus in Uganda.
Violence in the region has thwarted efforts to contain and control Ebola, as Congo lacks the institutional capability to manage the crisis.
“Think about what [the United States] went through with COVID, and you know what we had to do from an infrastructure, and from a political, and from an integration standpoint between communities, states, the federal government,” Dr. Imamu Tomlinson, the CEO of a $2.6 billion healthcare provider called Vituity, previously told the Washington Examiner. “You can imagine if you have unrest, civil unrest, and you know, in some cases, war and violence, how that would decrease the ability to do that well.”
The U.S. has sought to open a facility in Kenya to quarantine Americans exposed to the dangerous virus in Congo and Uganda, before allowing them to come back to the mainland. However, those plans have faced some intense opposition in Kenya, despite holding support from the country’s president.
CONGO FACES UNDERLYING CHALLENGES IN BATTLE TO OVERCOME EBOLA: ‘YOU GOTTA HAVE SAFETY’
“When President Trump asked the government of Kenya to support them,” Kenyan President William Ruto told reporters, “I gave the OK because it was an agreement and a partnership with friends who have worked with Kenya for 30-40 years.”
A Kenyan court temporarily blocked the U.S. from opening the facility on Friday and extended its block of the center at the Laikipia air base on Tuesday, as the case plays out.
