A WHO official visited the center of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo as cases surged

The head of the World Health Organization on Saturday visited eastern Congo in Bunia, a town in the city heart attack of a rare strain of Ebola, where the virus is spreading faster than the response despite better organized health facilities and new aid arriving.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to visit the treatment center and meet with local authorities, health workers and affected families in Bunia.

“The best way to deal with this is to provide all the necessary support to fight this disease where it starts and to continue to provide all the necessary assistance,” the WHO director-general told reporters on Friday.

The health organization said the latest statistics revealed that there are 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. The number could be three or four times higher than reported, reports CBS Saturday Morning.

Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ministry of Health in Uganda said on Friday.

The current strain of Ebola has no approved treatment or vaccine

I Bundibugyo virusThe current strain of Ebola has no approved treatment or vaccine.

“This is a difficult situation, and we recognize that. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the Ebola virus many times before. We are confident that it can control this outbreak again,” said Tedros after meeting with Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday.

Last week, the WHO its improved the risk assessment was “very high” at the national level. Tedros said the outbreak was “spreading rapidly.”

Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri, the center of the Ebola outbreak in Congo, on Thursday. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The US announced $80 million in additional aid that day, bringing its commitment to more than $112 million.

Response efforts do not match the speed of the outbreak

Response efforts at Bunia’s Rwampara and General Hospitals appear to be in order, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies, although patients continue to arrive around the clock, an Associated Press reporter said on Friday.

The response has not kept up with the fastest outbreak in history, Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, warned on Saturday.

“It has never happened before that an outbreak of Ebola has recorded so many cases after the announcement,” said Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, in a statement. “No one knows the true extent and severity of this outbreak.”

Gonzalez called for an immediate increase in testing, immediate deployment of aid workers and continued access to medical supplies.

The risks facing health workers have been exacerbated by anger among citizens over strict medical regulations for the handling of dead bodies, which conflict with local burial regulations. Residents have attacked health facilities at least three times.

Attacks in Ituri by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group affiliated with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias also hampered the response.

The disease has also been reported in Congo, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, south of Ituri, where the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 controls several key cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels reported two cases.

Border closures are “not working” to prevent the spread, says the WHO

Uganda and Rwanda closed its borders with Congo. Border closures and travel bans “do not work at all” to prevent the spread of the disease, Tedros said on Friday.

“Closing the borders, as other countries have done, ends transparency. The Democratic Republic of Congo reports the situation openly and transparently,” he said, urging countries to take a closer look at these measures.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that no Ebola patients will be allowed to enter the US, and he barred the entry of non-US passport holders who have recently visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan.

Airports in the United States, including JFK in New York, Washington-Dulles International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport are conducting enhanced health screenings. CDC officials will screen travelers who show symptoms and may be transported to a hospital for further treatment.

On Friday, a judge of the High Court of Kenya temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to build an Ebola detention center at an airport in the East African country.