WHO chief says most Ebola deaths in DR Congo still happening in the community

News brief

ebola treatment center — Daniel Bausch/Wikimedia Commons

Today, during the second meeting of the emergency committee convened under the International Health Regulations (IHR) for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said the current outbreak is moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak.

“The epidemic is far from being under control,” Tedros said during his opening remarks. “It had a big head start, and we are still playing catch-up. What concerns me most is where people are dying: at home, in their communities, outside treatment centres, and outside known contact lists. Every death like that points to a chain of transmission we have not yet found.”

What concerns me most is where people are dying: at home, in their communities, outside treatment centres, and outside known contact lists.

The IHR first met on May 17 to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Today’s meeting will likely extend the emergency.

Community deaths, rather than those at a health center or Ebola treatment center, are often sites of onward transmission, as family and friends come into contact with bodily fluids.

More funding is needed, Tedros said. According to Reuters, the WHO has raised about 60% of the $115 million it is seeking for the Ebola response.

Jeremy Farrar to step down from World Health Organization

News brief

Stephanie Soucheray, MA

Jeremy Farrar, MD, PhD, announced yesterday he would step down from his role as assistant director-general to the World Health Organization (WHO).

He has made no public comment on his decision to resign, but colleagues told The Telegraph he was increasingly frustrated with the bureaucracy of the organization.

Farrar was director of the Wellcome Trust from 2013 to 2023 and has also been a professor of tropical medicine at the University of Oxford. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Farrar became more publicly known as a member of the United Kingdom’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, WHO director-general, sent an email to WHO staff, obtained by The Telegraph, which said Farrar would be replaced by Bruce Aylward, MD, PhD, who currently serves as a senior advisor to Tedros.

In his email to staff, Tedros wished Farrar well, writing, “Dr Farrar has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to science and public health at the highest levels, and we are grateful that he chose to bring his experience, energy and conviction to WHO.”