outbreak

Only one in five health facilities have access to enough clean water, in Ituri, one of the epicenteres of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to new Oxfam field data. The findings raise urgent concerns about the spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus —access to clean water remains the first line of defense against transmission— raising fears that the true scale of the outbreak is underestimated.

The MPox epidemic has reached alarming levels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as more than 15,000 cases and over 540 deaths have been reported across the country since the beginning of the year. Oxfam is mounting an immediate response particularly in the most affected province of Equateur.  

The over emphasis on an almost exclusive medical approach at the start of the Ebola crisis hampered progress against the disease, according to Oxfam.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and international agency Oxfam today called on donors and others to join forces to support the government’s $60m appeal to upgrade Liberian schools with water and sanitation facilities as thousands of children across the country return to school for the first time in six months. 

On Thursday 15 May the Ministry of Health announced 18 confirmed cases of cholera in various locations across Juba. The source of the disease is not yet known.