A “perfect storm” of factors, including political violence and a misinformation campaign, could cause an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to spin out of control, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned at a September 25, 2018 press conference.
The WHO said 100 people have died and 150 have been infected in North Kivu, a northeastern province of DRC, and that it may take several months to contain the outbreak, which is already the seventh largest Ebola outbreak in history.
In a Huffington Post article the same day, Ashish Jha, K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the outbreak is illustrative of the rising public health risks that come with population growth, climate change and new migration patterns.
“It just reminds us that we’re one outbreak away from this spreading globally,” he said.
Read the Huffington Post article: WHO Fears Ebola In DRC Will Spin Out Of Control Due To Political Violence