“We see pockets of Ebola generally going down, but unfortunately geographically it’s spreading out,” World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi told The Associated Press in an interview in Beni, eastern Congo, on Friday.
Janabi said one of the biggest challenges has been convincing those who are infected to seek medical assistance, adding that some deaths occur in the community outside of health centers.
Serge Ngalebato, epidemiologist and field coordinator for the Wamba health zone in Haut-Uele province, told the AP health workers in his health zone introduced periodic home visits because people were too afraid to go to a hospital.
Nord-Ubangi is located between Sud-Ubangi and Bas-Uele, the last two provinces the disease had spread to along the border with the Central African Republic, where recurring armed violence has forced thousands to flee and take refuge in Congolese border communities. Access in the region can be difficult due to poor roads and limited communication networks.
Ituri province in eastern Congo remains the disease’s epicenter, accounting for almost three quarters of confirmed cases, according to the government’s most recent data, which shows 66 health zones have been affected since the start of the outbreak.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
