Doctors Without Borders / MSF-USA 28d ago

Ewald Stals, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) country representative in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), spoke with CNN on June 1. MSF’s current priority is trying to scale up testing for the Ebola disease in northeastern DRC, he said. “We still do not have a full picture of what is going on, and you can only get that by testing all the suspected cases that you can either confirm and start treating them, or you discharge them because they have another disease,” Stals explained. “We cannot move forward when we have too many cases there are still not confirmed.” Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks involving the more common Zaire virus, this outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which has no effective vaccines or simple diagnostic tests. That means patient samples must be sent for lab testing. Potential candidates for simple tests and vaccines are in the works now, but it will be months before they are ready to use. Organizations are also facing difficulties getting enough medical materials and personnel into DRC due to administrative procedures, said Stals. “And also, of course, money —- this is a very costly operation, and all the organizations need extra funding to make sure they can get all the goods and all the people in to help.” Make sure you don’t miss weekly video updates and ongoing series about our work in crisis zones across the world. Subscribe to our channel here: https://goo.gl/BtzdsR Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières helps people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care. Learn more at https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/BtzdsR Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doctorswithoutborders Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctorswithoutborders Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MSF_USA Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/m-decins-sans-fronti-res-msf- Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/quick-signup-confirm