WHO Chief Visits Congo, Opposes Closing Borders

The head of the World Health Organization on Saturday visited eastern Congo's Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus is spreading faster than the response despite the arrival of new aid. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the importance of building community trust and ensuring safe burials to prevent the spread of the outbreak. He urged countries to reconsider travel bans and border closures, saying they "discourage transparency," the AP reports. "The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced Ebola before, 16 times, and has ended every outbreak. This is the 17th. That history gives me real confidence," Tedros said in a news conference Saturday alongside Congo's health minister.

The health organization said Friday that the latest official figures show 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan Health Ministry said. The Bundibugyo virus, the current species of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine. Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Bunia in Ituri province on Thursday. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The US announced $80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than $112 million. Response efforts at Bunia's Rwampara and General hospitals appeared more organized, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies, though patients continued to arrive around the clock, per the AP.

The response has not kept pace with one of the fastest-spreading outbreaks on record, Doctors Without Borders warned on Saturday. "Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration," the organization's Dr. Alan Gonzalez said in a statement. "Nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak." Gonzalez called for an immediate expansion of testing, faster deployment of aid workers, and sustained access to medical supplies. "We are not here to tell people what to do, we are here to listen," Tedros said Saturday. "Building trust takes time, and it starts with listening." Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders, while the Trump administration last week barred entry of non-US passport holders who had recently visited Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan.