World Health Organization Fears ‘Perfect Storm’ for Major Ebola Outbreak in Congo

The World Health Organization announced Tuesday that it is becoming increasingly concerned about the possibility of a “perfect storm” that could cause Ebola to rapidly spread in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Reuters reports that at least 100 people have died from the current outbreak, out of the 150 who have been infected in the region. The WHO cited three major factors causing alarm: war, community suspicion, and the geographic distribution of the disease. After one opposition group’s armed attack in Beni, the WHO’s headquarters in the nation, the organization notes, the region declared a period of mourning in which health workers couldn’t monitor suspected new cases. The organization also cited “reluctance, refusal and resistance” to Ebola vaccination as the driver behind many of the new cases, and noted that politicians were exploiting that fear for their own political gain. Finally, the WHO notes, one new Ebola case occurred near the shores of Lake Albert, opening the possibility that the disease could shift to the neighboring Uganda. The WHO’s head of emergency response told reporters that “We are now extremely concerned that several factors may be coming together over the next weeks and months to create a potential perfect storm.”