The two nascent Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea require swift action “to avoid catastrophic consequences,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
It is the first official White House statement on the resurgence of Ebola in the two African countries. Psaki said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation in Central and West Africa.
“While the world is reeling from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola has re-emerged simultaneously in both Central and West Africa. The world cannot afford to go the other way,” said Psaki. “We must do everything we can to respond quickly, effectively and by appropriate means to stop these outbreaks before they become a large-scale epidemic.”
The World Health Organization announced last week that it had confirmed new cases of Ebola in Butembo, a city in the North Kivu province of DRC. The city was an epicenter of the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak, declared in June. WHO officials said Friday that the vaccine was transporting to the hard-to-reach city and racing to control the highly deadly disease before it spread widely.
Separately, officials in Guinea this weekend confirmed the resurgence of Ebola in N’Zerekore, in southern Guinea. Sunday, after at least three people died and four others were infected with the disease, the West African nation declared an Ebola epidemic. Neighboring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia have made their citizens very alert.
Unlike the highly contagious coronavirus, which can be spread by people who don’t have symptoms, Ebola is thought to spread mainly through people who are already visibly ill. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of people who are sick or died from the disease.
Ebola has an average death rate of 50%, although it can vary by outbreak, according to WHO.
Psaki said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with ambassadors from Guinea, the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia on Tuesday “to convey the United States’ willingness to work closely” with those countries.
“Mr. Sullivan emphasized President Biden’s commitment to providing US leadership to strengthen health security and create better systems for preventing, detecting and responding to health emergencies,” said Psaki. “Outbreaks require a quick and overwhelming response to avoid catastrophic consequences.”
The resurgence of Ebola in Guinea and the DRC is of particular concern to global health specialists as those countries are home to the two worst Ebola outbreaks in history. The outbreak in DRC declared in June lasted almost two years. It was the second largest in the world and by the time it ended, there had been a total of 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths, according to WHO.
The infamous Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in Guinea in 2014 before spreading across land borders into Sierra Leone and Liberia, WHO said. By the end of 2016, there were more than 28,000 cases, including more than 11,000 deaths, the WHO says.
“Since the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the United States has made efforts to increase and prioritize health security partners’ assistance through the Global Health Security Agenda and with strong support from Congress,” added Psaki on Tuesday. “We can’t afford to keep our foot off the gas – even if we fight COVID, we need to provide capacity and funding for health protection worldwide.”
During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed 11 cases of Ebola in the US, mainly among medical personnel who had traveled to Africa to assist with the response. Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the system-wide specialty pathogen program at Health + Hospitals in New York City, told CNBC on Tuesday that the city is working to ensure its outbreak response protocols are up to date.
“Anytime we see an epidemic declared, at least in New York City, we know we’re a travel hub, we need to make sure our staff is aware of competencies when it comes to PPE and identifying these patients,” she said in a telephone interview. “There is a major battle to ensure that the concept of the operation plan is dusted off.”