CONGO - Dorcas Mapenzi fears the worst if Ebola comes to the Kingonze camp, where she lives alongside more than 25,000 other displaced people in the conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines", the displaced woman told AFP at the sprawl of tarpaulin and tents on the outskirts of Bunia, the capital of the northeastern Ituri province, the epicenter of the latest outbreak. Spread by close contact, the deadly viral disease has spread like wildfire in the vast central African country's east, where decades of armed conflicts have forced millions of people from their homes and into camps where they live cheek-by-jowl. Nearly a million of those displaced are in Ituri -- among the provinces of the desperately impoverished DRC most prey to the east's litany of armed groups -- where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the refugee camps has sparked alarm.
The World Health Organization's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the eastern DRC "faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict", with the fighting hampering efforts to tackle the epidemic. Visiting Bunia on Saturday, Tedros called for more international help and financial aid to combat the spread of Ebola. He also said it was essential to assuage fears among affected communities who are deeply distrustful of authorities and halt the spread of false information about the virus. The current outbreak was officially declared in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda on May 15. As of May 31, the WHO said 321 cases had been confirmed in the DR Congo, including 48 deaths. There are nine confirmed cases in Uganda, including one fatality.
No infection has yet been recorded at the Kingonze displaced persons' camp, where Mapenzi now lives. But conditions in the camp are ripe for a disease passed on through close physical contact and bodily fluids. "I've already heard of Ebola and it's a disease that scares me a lot", Mapenzi said as she washed her laundry in a basin on the ground. "We displaced people here have no hygiene. "Our children play next to filthy toilets and even relieve themselves on the ground, in the middle of the tarpaulins that serve as our homes", the young woman said. (Bssnews)
