WHO chief urges safe burials in visit to heart of Ebola outbreak

BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo — The World Health Organization chief traveled Saturday to the Congolese province hardest hit by an Ebola outbreak, urging residents to seek treatment and practice safe burials as officials scramble to contain the fatal disease.

The outbreak — the 17th in Democratic Republic of Congo and the third-largest since Ebola was discovered half a century ago — is outpacing the global response, something WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged this past week before traveling to Kinshasa on Thursday.

His visit came as Brazil said Saturday it was investigating a suspected Ebola case in Sao Paulo state involving a man who recently visited Congo. Authorities said the patient was in isolation at a specialist hospital.

After meeting Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday, Tedros flew Saturday to Bunia, capital of Ituri province, where the first cases were confirmed this month.

At a news conference alongside Congo's health minister, Tedros said the rare Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccines or treatments, making early palliative care — including isolation, rehydration and pain management — critical.

"Seeking care early makes a real difference," he said.

He also urged residents to practice safe burials, warning the bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious. There were multiple attacks on health facilities by crowds seeking to reclaim bodies for traditional burials, in which family members handle the ​body without proper protective equipment. 

"I understand how painful it is to lose someone and how much it means to honor them properly," Tedros said. "While we grieve for those we have lost, we must do everything we can so that we do not lose another."

The WHO said Friday there were 906 suspected cases of Ebola in Congo, including 223 suspected deaths under investigation.

Health ⁠Minister Samuel ​Roger ​Kamba said later Friday ​authorities identified 1,028 suspected ​cases, with 225 confirmed.

Response 'has not yet caught up,' medical charity says

Health officials and aid workers say they lack even basic supplies such as masks after the outbreak spread undetected for weeks.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, commonly known by its French acronym MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres), warned Saturday that the response was inadequate.

"Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration," Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF deputy director of operations, said in a statement. "Like everyone in the affected areas, MSF teams are witnessing a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic."

The number of medical organizations on the ground and the level of support remain far short of what is needed, Gonzalez added.

On arriving in Kinshasa on Thursday, Tedros called for more international support, saying the WHO received only about a third of the funding it requires.

Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday that initial funding pledges dropped sharply as some donors reconsidered contributions.

Congo says outbreak not 'out of control'

Ebola cases were confirmed in three of Congo's provinces and in neighboring Uganda, which this past week closed its border with Congo.

Kamba spent several days in Ituri ahead of Tedros's visit. At a news conference Thursday, he rejected reports suggesting the outbreak was "out of control."

On Saturday, appearing alongside Tedros, he said health officials had sufficient resources to meet testing needs, even as MSF said "hundreds of samples remain untested."

Congo's experience with Ebola, including a small outbreak last year, would help contain the disease, Kamba said, adding neighboring countries should keep borders open.

"We have experience with epidemics. We defeated Ebola last year," he said. "We tell you, trust us, we know what we are doing."