By Russell Powell, Sydney Anglicans. (Photo: Sydney Anglicans)
Churches and aid groups are urgently mobilising as a vaccine-resistant strain of the viral hemorrhagic fever Ebola spreads across parts of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The bishop is on a pastoral visit to the DRC, in the east-central province of Maniema, whereas the main outbreak areas have been in the northeast.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which is distinct from the more common Zaire virus of Ebola in that there is no approved vaccine and no approved treatment. This makes the outbreak urgent and extremely challenging to control.
“This is because, despite poor roads etc, there has been a huge increase in the number of motorbikes taking people across huge distances from one area to another – often four to six people on one motorbike!”
“There are also some cases around Butembo where Bishop Isesomo of North Kivu is based, plus isolated reports of infection in Goma and in South Kivu. One complication is that M23 rebels control huge parts of those provinces and while the DRC government has the expertise and experience to work with international agencies to control Ebola, M23 does not have this experience and it’s difficult for agencies to work with a rebel group.”
The bishop also reports that authorities are concerned that in the declared area, parts of the population believe conspiracy theories about Ebola.