World Vision Responding As New Ebola Outbreak Grows

World Vision is ramping up its response, following the news of three Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in one week. The cases are in Butembo, which was an epicentre of the outbreak that was declared over in June last year.

“World Vision has trained a number of faith leaders in the region on how to help their communities contain such outbreaks. These leaders spread the word quickly so that communities can remain safe,” says Anne-Marie Connor, the National Director for World Vision in DRC.

For the past year World Vision’s COVID19 programmes have helped to keep Ebola at bay. But there are many ongoing health emergencies in DRC, including malaria, common cholera and measles outbreaks, which have stretched the health system and the country’s ability to rapidly detect and respond to new Ebola cases.

“An outbreak of such a highly contagious disease, in a region experiencing mass people movements due to violent spikes of conflict that have recently affected nearly 26,000 families, is worrisome,” says Connor.

“Children living in these areas need immediate action to avoid the effects of a likely confluence of Ebola, COVID19 and conflict. The situation is complex,” she adds.

World Vision has been a leader in facilitating Ebola vaccine deployment, acceptance and compliance during the worst Ebola epidemic in West Africa, as well as the 10th outbreak in the DRC in 2019/20. World Vision continues to actively monitor this outbreak in coordination with other humanitarian stakeholders.

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