#ebola-outbreak

#ebola-outbreak

Efforts to stop the latest outbreak of the deadly disease have been hampered by armed conflict in eastern DR Congo and foreign aid cuts. The African Union and India have postponed the India-Africa Forum Summit scheduled for next week in New Delhi, due to the evolving health situation in parts of Africa. India's Ministry of External Affairs made the announcement on Thursday as health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are battling a growing Ebola disease outbreak.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) football team have cancelled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned public farewell to fans in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country. DRC are scheduled to play World Cup warm-up games against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3, and Chile in southern Spain on June 9. Both matches are going ahead as planned, team spokesman Jerry Kalemo told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Since the 2016 Ebola crisis, the world has suffered five major public health emergencies, including Covid-19, the largest pandemic of this century. In recent years, initiatives and mechanisms have emerged to respond to new health challenges, such as the Pandemic Fund and the WHO Pandemic Arrangement, but the experts acknowledge that we live in a world of greater volatility, uncertainty, fragmentation and interconnected shocks with far-reaching consequences than a decade ago.

Africa CDC highlighted other complications of this outbreak, which include the urban context of Bunia and Rwampara; intense movement of people in the area, including mining-related mobility; militia clashes in the area; and gaps in contact tracing. The agency also noted the potential spillover not just to Uganda but also to South Sudan.