The most recent Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC highlights a number of obstacles faced by health specialists in their efforts to prevent the spread of one of the world’s deadliest and most contagious diseases. The North Kivu province of the DRC is home to numerous militant groups, over 1 million displaced people, and an impenetrable geography. These securities risks make it difficult to effectively treat and contain diseases, raising the risk of this outbreak spreading more dramatically within and beyond the area. “…we can’t get in quickly enough to an alert or we just have a blind spot because of security. And then an outbreak really begins to take hold in those blind spots and becomes a multi country regional outbreak…that’s what keeps me up at night,” lamented a deputy director general with the World Health Organization.
Source: Ebola outbreak is most dangerous test of world’s ability to respond since global crisis
