The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced Monday that there have been 220 suspected deaths in the current Ebola outbreak, warning that a delay in detecting cases has forced responders to “play catch-up.”

“We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us,” Tedros said, urging immediate action from countries bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Earlier Monday, Uganda reported two additional Ebola cases, bringing its total confirmed cases to seven. In a social media post, Tedros noted that over 900 suspected cases have been identified in the DRC as surveillance efforts intensify.

Ebola is a viral disease transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids, causing severe bleeding and organ failure. The epicenter of the latest outbreak is in the DRC’s northeastern Ituri province, spreading to neighboring provinces and Uganda.

No vaccine or treatment exists for the new Bundibugyo strain. Last week, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

In Uganda, two new confirmed cases were detected Monday, both health workers at a private facility in Kampala.

On Sunday, armed youths stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients in eastern DRC, forcing medical staff to evacuate patients amid gunfire. The attackers demanded the bodies of two relatives.

On Saturday, residents of Mongbwalu set fire to a tent set up by Doctors Without Borders, and 18 suspected Ebola patients fled and remain unaccounted for. Last Thursday, a treatment center in Rwampara was also burned down.

The DRC government has banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people in the northeast to curb the virus spread.

Source: www.aljazeera.com