WHO chief warns countries against travel restrictions due to Ebola
The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Saturday called on countries which have imposed travel restrictions and closed their borders following Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to reconsider such measures.
Canada and the US have imposed travel restrictions and visa suspensions on residents from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan this month, citing an Ebola outbreak.
In the region, Rwanda and Uganda have limited travel from Congo. The two countries share borders with Congo.
Foreign nationals who have travelled through Congo in the past 30 days are not allowed entry into Rwanda.
Addressing a press conference in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province and the epicentre of the outbreak, Tedros unity and solidarity are the best weapon of protection against the Ebola epidemic,while travel restrictions could discourage transparency in reporting cases.
He called on local communities to remain at the centre of the response to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no approved vaccine or treatment currently exists.
“We are not here to tell people what to do. We are here to listen,” he said at a press briefing. “Communities understand their own challenges and their own solutions. Our role is to support you in implementing those solutions, together,” he said.
According to the latest situation update released Friday by the WHO, at least 134 confirmed cases of Ebola have been reported in the current outbreak in the Congo and Uganda.
Deaths from Ebola stand at 18 among the confirmed cases in the two countries.
Congolese health authorities indicate that new suspected cases continue to be registered with a cumulative number of over 1,000 recorded since the outbreak was declared on May 15.
The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola concentrated in the three eastern Congolese provinces including Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
