MOSCOW, June 4 : World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to lift travel restrictions imposed due to the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as they are hindering aid delivery.
On May 27, the Ugandan Health Ministry said that the government had decided to close the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo amid the unfavourable epidemiological situation there.
The New York Times newspaper reported on the same day that the United States intends to send Americans infected with Ebola to Kenya for treatment. However, on May 29, the Kenyan High Court temporarily banned entry into the country for people infected with the virus.
“Blanket travel restrictions imposed by some countries are disrupting supply chains and hindering the response. WHO recommends exit screening at airports, ports and border crossings to prevent the exportation of cases and contacts. We ask countries that have imposed blanket travel restrictions to lift them,” Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
On May 15, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
Ebola is an often fatal disease transmitted from wild animals such as bats and primates to humans. People can get infected from another person by direct contact with the blood and other bodily fluids or with contaminated objects. The UN assesses the disease’s average fatality rate to be at 50%, but it has reached up to 90% in previous outbreaks.
(UNI)
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