WHO chief urges countries to rethink Ebola travel restrictions

BUNIA: World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on countries that have tightened border controls and travel rules in response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to review those measures.

Speaking at a news conference in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, Tedros said solidarity and cooperation were the strongest tools against the epidemic and warned that travel curbs could discourage openness in reporting infections. He also said local communities should remain central to the response to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.

Attributing the response approach to community engagement, Tedros said: "We are not here to tell people what to do. We are here to listen."

"Communities understand their own challenges and their own solutions. Our role is to support you in implementing those solutions, together," he added.

Canada and the United States have introduced travel restrictions and suspended visas for residents of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan because of the outbreak. Rwanda and Uganda have also restricted travel from Congo. Rwanda has barred entry to foreign nationals who have passed through Congo during the previous 30 days.

The WHO said in an update released Friday that at least 134 confirmed cases had been recorded in the current outbreak across Congo and Uganda, with 18 deaths among those confirmed infections. Congolese health authorities have said new suspected cases are still being registered, with the cumulative number topping 1,000 since the outbreak was declared on May 15.

The Bundibugyo strain is concentrated in three eastern Congolese provinces: Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

Brazil monitors two suspected cases

Brazilian health authorities are also tracking two patients for possible Ebola infection, raising concern that the outbreak in central Africa could spread further abroad.

The Sao Paulo state government said in a statement on Saturday that a 37-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of Congo had shown symptoms including fever, which met the definition of a suspected Ebola case. The statement said initial testing did not find the Ebola virus, but the patient was being isolated and monitored as a precaution at a specialised infectious disease unit.

In Rio de Janeiro state, the health department said it had put safety procedures into effect after a man from Uganda developed what it described as viral symptoms including cough, chills and diarrhoea. The Rio city government told AFP by email that the patient tested positive for malaria on Saturday evening and that the case was still being investigated.