WHO worried Ebola can 'transmit freely' in DR Congo as death toll hits 41

Raging conflict is hampering efforts to rein in an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the WHO chief warned today, urging a ceasefire to stop the virus from transmitting freely.

As the death toll in the outbreak declared on August 1 in DRC's violence-wracked North Kivu province hit 41, the World Health Organization chief also called for the rapid roll-out of an unlicenced drug being used for the first time to treat Ebola patients.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva he feared conditions on the ground in the eastern province had created "a conducive environment for the transmission of Ebola."
Tedros, who travelled to the epicentres of the outbreak in Beni and Mangina in recent days, said he had been very worried before his trip, but that after the visit "I am actually more worried."
"That environment is really conducive for Ebola ... to transmit freely."
Tedros said five patients had received the unlicenced drug so far, and that WHO would like the roll-out "to speed up as much as possible."