GENEVA / DRC EBOLA

World Health Organization (WHO) said as of today, four people have died and some 43 were infected in the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. UNTV CH

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:24
• Production Date: 23 May 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME - WFP; WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
• MAMS Id: 1892206
• Parent Id: 1892206
• Alternate Title: unifeed170523b

Description

STORY: GENEVA / DRC EBOLA
TRT: 2:24
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATTS

DATELINE: 23 MAY 2017 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO):
”There were 4 deaths out of those 43 cases, three are considered as probable and one has been confirmed with laboratory tests. Currently 5 people are in a treatment unit”.
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO):
”There are more than 400 contacts that are been currently followed, 419 to be precise. Out of these 419 cases 54 are already beyond the 21 (day) period that is the date for contacts that are monitored to be sure that they do not develop symptoms, so these are the latest figures”.
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO):
“As of today, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not yet announced the decision for the use of experimental vaccines. Having said that, the work is in progress, there are some things that have to be done in advance. MSF has developed a protocol, there is an idea of how to send cold chain equipment from Guinea, you know this vaccine has to be stored at minus 80 degrees”.
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Lüscher, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP):
“We are helping our friends from WHO and supporting them in their mission to deal with the Ebola crisis. We have deployed a helicopter who serves the whole UN community and is based in Kisangani, has begun rotations into the epicenter and Buta. We also have obviously staff in the region and in country that have a lot of experience with the Ebola response. You might recall that we worked side by side with WHO on the logistical response of the last big outbreak in western Africa. We built the treatment centers, we flew in the nurses, the doctors and everything. So our folks are ready and supporting our WHO friends and partners”.
10. Wide shot, journalists

Storyline

World Health Organization (WHO) said as of today, four people have died and some 43 were infected in the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The total number of Ebola cases during the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are 43 as of today (May 23). Out of these 38 are suspected cases with two cases confirmed and three being considered as probable, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced today in Geneva.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, WHO’s spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said that “there were 4 deaths out of those 43 cases, three are considered as probable and one has been confirmed with laboratory tests. Currently 5 people are in a treatment unit”.

On 12 May 2017, WHO has declared an Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

Jasarevic said that ”there are more than 400 contacts that are been currently followed, 419 to be precise. Out of these 419 cases 54 are already beyond the 21 (day) period that is the date for contacts that are monitored to be sure that they do not develop symptoms, so these are the latest figures”.

People began to get sick on or after 22 April in Bas-Uele province in the country’s far north. The region affected lies 1,300 in north-east of Kinshasa, close to the border with the Central African Republic in a remote and hard to reach area.
The virus is fatal in up to 90 % of cases, and the WHO recently developed an experimental vaccine for use in emergencies.

Jasarevic said that “as of today, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not yet announced the decision for the use of experimental vaccines”. He added that “MSF has developed a protocol, there is an idea of how to send cold chain equipment from Guinea, you know this vaccine has to be stored at minus 80 degrees”.

More than 11,000 people died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2015, an estimated 28,600 people were infected as the virus spread through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Bettina Lüscher, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) said that “we are helping our friends from WHO and supporting them in their mission to deal with the Ebola crisis. We have deployed a helicopter who serves the whole UN community and is based in Kisangani, has begun rotations into the epicenter and Buta”. She added that “we also have obviously staff in the region and in country that have a lot of experience with the Ebola response. You might recall that we worked side by side with WHO on the logistical response of the last big outbreak in western Africa. We built the treatment centers, we flew in the nurses, the doctors and everything. So our folks are ready and supporting our WHO friends and partners”.

The last outbreak of Ebola in the DRC was in 2014. Ebola occasionally jumps from animals including bats and monkey to humans – and without preventive measures, the virus can spread quickly between people.