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Violence, Distrust Pose Problems For Ebola Outbreak Responders In Congo

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In this Tuesday April, 16, 2019 file photo, an Ebola health worker is seen at a treatment center in Beni, Eastern Congo. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro, file/AP)
In this Tuesday April, 16, 2019 file photo, an Ebola health worker is seen at a treatment center in Beni, Eastern Congo. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro, file/AP)

With Meghna Chakrabarti

Ebola is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,100 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo now, making this the second worst outbreak ever.

Guests

Tariq Riebl, emergency response director for the International Rescue Group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (@theIRC)

Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer of Partners In Health. Associate professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School. Associate professor in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Author of "Introduction to Global Health Delivery." (@JoiaMukherjee)

From The Reading List

STAT: "The Ebola response effort is struggling. Experts say these steps could help" — "With Ebola response teams struggling to contain the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization and its partners can make changes to shore up their effort and try to prevent the crisis from escalating further, according to a handful of experts surveyed by STAT.

"The experts are wary of criticizing WHO officials and others trying desperately to stop the virus from spreading. Violence aimed at Ebola response workers and a refusal to cooperate with control measures in some communities has rendered this outbreak, the second largest on record, unlike anything the world of Ebola responders has seen before. There have been repeated attacked on Ebola treatment centers, and on many days response workers have been unable to move about in outbreak hotspots.

"At the same time, the experts believe global health officials have opportunities to bolster their efforts."

PBS NewsHour: "Congo’s Ebola crisis threatens to spiral out of control" — "More than 1,100 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite information campaigns, new treatment facilities that reduce disease transmission and an effective new vaccine, the outbreak is spreading because of ongoing violence and residents’ deep distrust of government. Nick Schifrin talks to International Rescue Committee's David Miliband about the growing crisis.

"Today, the head of the United Nations' health agency called an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo one of the most complex emergencies that the WHO has ever faced.

"More than 1,100 people have died from the deadly virus in two provinces along the borders of three countries. That makes it the second worst Ebola outbreak ever.

"But, as Nick Schifrin reports, experts fear the outbreak is increasing and that the virus could soon spread."

Hilary McQuilkin produced this segment for broadcast.

This segment aired on May 23, 2019.

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