UN allocates $60 million as Ebola outbreak spreads in Central Africa
'We need to get ahead of this Ebola outbreak,' says UN relief chief
The UN is releasing up to $60 million in emergency funding to combat a growing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, relief chief Tom Fletcher said Friday.
"We need to get ahead of this Ebola outbreak. Today, I am allocating up to $60 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the wider region," Fletcher said in a statement.
Fletcher said the humanitarian response is being led by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"The epidemiological context is challenging: there are not yet licensed vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain," he added.
The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, unlike many previous outbreaks linked to the Zaire strain. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for it.
Fletcher warned that the outbreak is unfolding in some of the world’s "most difficult" humanitarian environments, where armed conflict and mass movement of civilians threaten containment efforts. Aid agencies are seeking safe access to affected communities, including areas controlled by armed groups.
"We are applying lessons from previous outbreaks. Containment depends on fast, coordinated action at the community level. We need strong communication with governments, and effective early warning and detection systems across affected counties," he said.
Ghebreyesus on Friday described the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as “deeply worrisome,” warning that the scale of the epidemic is likely far greater than confirmed figures suggest.
