Congo’s Ebola responders decry lack of medicine, masks, motorbikes

By Erikas Mwisi and Clement Bonnerot

BUNIA, May 20 (Reuters) – First responders fighting Democratic Republic of Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak say even basic supplies are scarce – from pain medicine, to motorbikes for contact tracing and face masks – complicating efforts to turn the tide on the disease.    

   The rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola circulated for weeks undetected in Congo’s remote northeast before the first samples tested positive last week. Aid groups are now scrambling to rush in supplies to Ituri, the conflict-hit province where the outbreak originated.

Underinvestment in public health infrastructure is the norm for Ituri, although some aid agencies are blaming the current shortages partly on cuts to foreign assistance, notably the dismantling of USAID last year.

“Funding cuts have left the region dangerously exposed,” said Heather Reoch Kerr, Congo country director for the International Rescue Committee.

“Certain activities previously supported by donor funding, including the provision of PPE kits to health facilities, have been significantly reduced, and today many facilities in affected areas are operating without basic protective supplies.”

AID WORKERS TAP CONTINGENCY STOCKS

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 16. As of Wednesday, there were 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths in Congo.

The State Department announced on Tuesday that it would fund up to 50 “rapidly deployed” treatment clinics to fight Ebola in affected areas of Congo and Uganda, where cases have also been reported. 

The decision, it said in a statement, highlights Washington’s “ironclad commitment to ensuring this response is fully resourced, rapid, and cooperative between key global health and humanitarian partners.”

Meanwhile, the WHO said it had airlifted 12 tons of medical supplies, with another six expected. 

The aid can’t come soon enough, said Mamadou Kaba Barry, head of mission in Congo for ALIMA, an NGO that was already working in Ituri before the outbreak and was one of the first to mobilise supplies.

“We tapped into our contingency stocks, which include tents, protective equipment, medicines and laboratory equipment. These are not huge stocks, but they allow us to be agile and quick,” Barry said.

“The resources are far below what is needed today.”

LOCAL HOSPITALS ‘OVERWHELMED’

Congo’s health minister has announced plans to build treatment centres in three locations. As of Tuesday, 69 patients were under active treatment in existing health facilities that the government acknowledges are under-resourced.  

There are no approved virus-specific therapeutics for the Bundibugyo strain, and treatment is palliative, centred on isolation, rehydration and pain management. 

“We are overwhelmed, we were not prepared to deal with an outbreak,” said Sandrine Lusamba, coordinator of SOFEPADI, a local NGO that runs a small hospital outside Bunia, the Ituri capital. The hospital has received several suspected cases since the outbreak was declared, and three have died, she said. Two nurses have fallen ill.

“We’ve sent a list to our partners, asking for masks, gloves, hand-sanitising gel, hand washing stations and thermometers,” she said.

CASE NUMBERS LIKELY UNDERREPORTED 

Beyond treatment, there is a stark need for more resources for surveillance and tracing.

Experts say the delay in detecting the outbreak highlighted gaps in preparedness following global health funding cuts.

“What we are starting to see in DRC but in many places, surveillance is a lot of what USAID had supported and that data collection is critical,” said Maria Guevara, international medical secretary at medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. 

“We don’t have those surveillance capacities.”

Because of the delay in confirming Ebola was present in Ituri, the response is “weeks behind” and the number of cases “far underreported,” said Bob Kitchen, vice president of emergencies at the International Rescue Committee.

“Twelve years after the major Ebola outbreak in West Africa, we should know that relying on treatment is a mistake.” 

Patrick Otim, programme manager for emergency response at WHO’s regional Africa office, told Reuters that WHO was working with UNICEF to get more motorbikes on the ground to improve contact tracing across Congo’s “vast” and “difficult” terrain.

Bunia resident Isabelle Mwendo told Reuters that, for many residents, the return of Ebola was just starting to sink in.

“We first learned about it on the radio. But when I went to the market, I realized that I was almost alone and didn’t have a face mask. When I tried to go to a bank, I was completely refused entry,” she said.

As hand washing stations go up, she said she hoped the population would use them and adhere to any other health regulations “for our own well-being.” 

(Reporting by Erikas Mwisi in Bunia and Clement Bonnerot in Dakar; Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, Angela Ukomadu in Lagos and Fiston Mahamba in Goma; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Sharon Singleton)