The two Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea call for swift action “to avoid catastrophic consequences,” White House news secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
This is the first official statement from the White House on Ebola resettlement in the two African countries. Psaki said President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation in Central and West Africa.
“As the world recedes from the chronic pandemic COVID-19, Ebola has re-emerged, at the same time, both in Central and West Africa. The world cannot turn around the other way around, “Psaki said. “We must do all we can to respond quickly, efficiently, and with balanced resources to stop these incidents before they become pandemics.”
The World Health Organization announced last week that it had confirmed new cases of Ebola in Butembo, a city in the North Kivu Province of the DRC. The city was at the center of the world’s largest Ebola outbreak declared in June. WHO officials said Friday they were transporting vaccines to the hard-to-reach city and racing to contain the deadly disease before it spread widely.
Separately, officials in Guinea over the weekend confirmed the Ebola resettlement in N’Zerekore, in southern Guinea. On Sunday, after at least three people died and four others contracted the disease, the West African nation declared Ebola infection. The neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia have issued a major warning to their citizens.
Unlike the infectious coronavirus, which can be transmitted by people who have no symptoms, Ebola is thought to be spread mainly through people who are already ill. The virus is spread through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of people who are sick or have died of the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ebola has an average case mortality rate of 50%, although it may vary by revolution, according to the WHO.
Psaki said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday spoke to the ambassadors of Guinea, the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia “to encourage the United States to work closely” with those countries.
“Mr. Sullivan emphasized President Biden’s commitment to provide U.S. leadership to strengthen health security and create better systems for preventing, detecting, and responding to health emergencies,” said Psaki. “Outbreaks require a rapid and alarming response to avoid catastrophic consequences.”
Global health experts are particularly concerned about the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and the DRC as these countries are home to the two worst Ebola outbreaks in history. The revolution in the DRC announced in June lasted for nearly two years. It was the second largest city in the world and before its closure there were a total of 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths, according to the WHO.
The infamous West African Ebola uprising began in Guinea in 2014 before spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the WHO. By the end of 2016, there had been more than 28,000 cases, including more than 11,000 deaths, WHO says.
“Since the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the United States has made an effort to increase health security support and prioritize partners through the Global Health Security Agenda and with strong support from Congress,” he added. Psaki ris Tuesday. “We can’t get our feet off the gas – even when we fight COVID, we need to ensure capacity and funding for health security around the world.”
During the West African Ebola Revolution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed 11 cases of Ebola in the U.S., mostly among medical workers who had traveled to Africa to help with the response . Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the system-wide special pathogens program at New York City Health + Hospitals, told CNBC Tuesday that the city is working to ensure that the protocols respond-to their outreach updated.
“Whenever we see a pandemic, at least in New York City, we know we are a hub of travel, we need to make sure our staff are up to date on capabilities when it comes to Identify PPE and these patients, “she said in a phone interview.” There’s a big scramble just to make sure the concept of an operation plan is erased. “