The European Union and UNICEF have sent 100 tons of humanitarian supplies to Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the response to the current Ebola outbreak. The shipment includes essential medicines, infection prevention and control items, and personal protective equipment, according to UNICEF.
It also contains cholera and malaria treatment supplies, high-performance tents, and related equipment. The aid flew out Monday from Liege, Belgium, and is expected to reach around 100,000 people affected by the outbreak.
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EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said the shipment will also help five million people who are largely dependent on humanitarian aid, of whom one million are displaced and, in her words, “spread across some 60 camps.”
WHO declares Ebola epidemic a public health emergency
On May 17, the World Health Organization classified the latest epidemic of Ebola disease — caused by the Bundibugyo virus — as a public health emergency of international concern. Commissioner Lahbib noted that the epidemic poses a “danger to the region, the country, and neighboring countries.”
No vaccines or treatments are currently available for the Bundibugyo virus. The EU is contributing €7.4 million to the development of vaccines and treatments with WHO under a research and development plan aimed at fast-tracking clinical trials.
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EU coordinates with African and global health bodies
According to the European Commission, the EU is coordinating its prevention and preparedness approach with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the WHO, and EU member states through the Health Security Committee.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced 17 Ebola incidents since the first recorded one in 1976. Nine of those incidents have occurred within the past 16 years. That’s a lot of incidents for one country — and it keeps showing up.
Low risk for EU, but local situation remains dire
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says the likelihood of transmission to people living in the EU and European Economic Area remains low. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of symptomatic patients.
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One hundred tonnes of supplies is a lot of weight. The flight path alone covered thousands of miles. That part is logistics, not politics — though the two tend to blur when aid shipments are involved.
This strain is different from the more well-known Zaire strain. It kills fewer people but still kills. Anyone working on the ground needs those tents and protective gear to keep the epidemic from growing.