The two Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea call for swift action “to avoid catastrophic consequences,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
It is the first official statement by the White House on the resurgence of Ebola in the two African countries. Psaki said President Joe Biden was informed about the situation in Central and West Africa.
“While the world is recovering from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ebola has emerged again, simultaneously, in Central and West Africa. The world cannot afford to turn the other way,” said Psaki. “We must do everything in our power to respond quickly, effectively and with proportionate resources to stop these outbreaks before they become large-scale epidemics.”
The World Health Organization announced last week that it had confirmed new cases of Ebola in Butembo, a city in North Kivu province, DRC. The city was the epicenter of the second largest Ebola outbreak in the world, declared closed in June. WHO officials said on Friday that he was transporting the vaccine to the hard-to-reach city and rushing to contain the highly lethal disease before it spread widely.
Separately, Guinea officials confirmed the resurgence of Ebola at N’Zerekore in southern Guinea over the weekend. On Sunday, after at least three people died and four others were infected with the disease, the West African country declared an Ebola epidemic. Neighboring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia have put their citizens on high alert.
Unlike the highly infectious coronavirus, which can be transmitted by people without symptoms, Ebola is believed to spread mainly to people who are already visibly sick. The virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of people who are sick or have died of the disease, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ebola has an average lethality rate of 50%, although it may vary according to the outbreak, according to the WHO.
Psaki said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke on Tuesday with ambassadors from Guinea, DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia “to convey the United States’ willingness to work closely” with those countries.
“Mr. Sullivan emphasized President Biden’s commitment to providing leadership to the United States to strengthen health security and create better systems to prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies,” said Psaki. “Outbreaks require a swift and overwhelming response to avoid catastrophic consequences.”
The resurgence of Ebola in Guinea and the DRC has left global health experts particularly concerned because these countries are home to the two worst Ebola outbreaks in history. The outbreak in the DRC declared ended in June lasted almost two years. It was the second largest in the world and, when it ended, there were 3,481 cases in total and 2,299 deaths, according to WHO.
The infamous Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in Guinea in 2014 before spreading across the land borders of Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the WHO. At the end of 2016, there were more than 28,000 cases, including more than 11,000 deaths, says the WHO.
“Since the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the United States has been committed to raising and prioritizing health security assistance with partners through the Global Health Security Agenda and with strong support from Congress,” added Psaki on Tuesday. market. “We cannot take our foot off the accelerator – even as we struggle with COVID, we must ensure capacity and funding for health security worldwide.”
During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the US Centers for Disease Control confirmed 11 cases of Ebola in the United States, mainly among health professionals who traveled to Africa to help with the response. Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the New York City Health + Hospitals system-wide special pathogen program, told CNBC on Tuesday that the city is working to ensure that its outbreak response protocols are up to date.
“Whenever we see a declared epidemic, at least in New York City, we know that we are a travel center, we need to make sure that our team is up to date on the skills with regard to PPE and identifying these patients,” she said in a phone interview. “There is a lot of confusion just to ensure that the concept of an operations plan is swept away.”