Jason Kindrachuk, Canada Research Chair in Emerging Viruses at the University of Manitoba, explains a Winnipeg-led study that cuts Ebola testing to 65 minutes. <\/p>\n
KINSHASA, Congo \u2014 The head of the World Health Organization arrived in Congo was in Congo on Wednesday as aid workers said the world\u2019s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak is spreading at an \u201calarming\u201d rate and some health workers are striking over lack of pay.<\/p>\n
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was scheduled to meet with partners and President Felix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, the WHO country office told The Associated Press. It was his second visit since the outbreak was declared in mid-May.<\/p>\n
The Ebola outbreak had 3,874 confirmed cases, including 1,751 deaths, as of Monday, according to data published overnight by Congo\u2019s Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n
In Ituri, the outbreak\u2019s epicentre, families said many frontline workers have gone on strike, worsening access to healthcare that was already challenged by rebel conflict in one of Congo\u2019s most remote and vulnerable areas, its east near the borders of South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.<\/p>\n
While some frontline workers say they have started receiving payment in the last week for work done since the outbreak began, they are demanding improved wages.<\/p>\n
Anicet Baluku, a resident of Bunia, Ituri\u2019s capital, blamed the death of his two brothers from Ebola on the strike. \u201cWe urge the authorities to quickly find a solution to prevent other families from experiencing the same tragedy,\u201d he told the AP.<\/p>\n
The outbreak has eclipsed all other Ebola outbreaks in history in its speed of transmission and is the second-largest outbreak on record, behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that recorded more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths.<\/p>\n
The Bundibugyo virus that is causing this outbreak has no approved treatment or vaccine, and local officials believe it began in a remote area long before it was declared on May 15.<\/p>\n
Nearly three months later, the outbreak is still \u201cspreading at an alarming and unprecedented rate,\u201d medical charity Doctors Without Doctors said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response is expanding but is still not reaching communities quickly enough to break transmission chains,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n
The head of the Africa Centers for Disease and Control, Dr. Jean Kaseya, said Tuesday while visiting Bunia that contact tracing isn\u2019t working, with at least 60 per cent to 70 per cent of new cases coming outside of people being monitored after exposure to patients.<\/p>\n
Late detection of cases has been a key contributor to the 45 per cent fatality rate, officials say. The 77 new cases reported in the previous 24 hours included 44 deaths, according to the health ministry.<\/p>\n
At least 717 patients are in isolation while 749 patients have recovered.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press<\/p>\n
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