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STORY: UN / EBOLA UPDATE
TRT: 01:50
SOURCE: UNIFEED-UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 AUGUST 2014, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations Headquarters
25 AUGUST 2014, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, UN spokesperson walking to the podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General:
“The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed that Ebola has resurfaced in the country. The Congolese health minister Felix Kabange Numbi said the outbreak killed 13 people since July in a remote village in the area of Boende, Equateur Province, more than 1,200 km from Kinshasa. Minister Kabange said the strain of this outbreak was different from the one that's been ravaging West Africa.
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General:
“The current limitations on flights into and out of these countries, and the restrictions placed on aircraft originating from these countries transiting through airports in neighboring countries, though understandable, are not warranted. It is not an optimal measure for controlling the import of Ebola virus disease. The measure does not reflect what is known about the way in which the virus passes between people.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General:
“The current trend of limitations on flights is having adverse effects on efforts to control the disease. Current flight limitations are hampering the movement of international experts involved in the control efforts. These flight restrictions hinder the capacities of aid organizations like Médecins sans Frontières to deploy their personnel in support of the crisis response and mitigation. The ability of programs involved in controlling the outbreak to transport essential equipment and materials to the region is also being severely hampered. These flight limitations contribute to the economic and diplomatic isolation of the affected countries and further compound the stigmatization already experienced by their citizens.”
8. Wide shot, UN spokesperson walks out
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, said that the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed that Ebola has resurfaced in the country.
He said that, according to the Congolese authorities, 13 people have been killed since July in a remote village in the area of Boende, Equateur Province, more than 1,200 km from Kinshasa.
Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi warned that the outbreak facing the country is “different” from the one ravaging West Africa.
In relation to the announcement of flight restrictions in some countries in West Africa, reading a statement, Dujarric said these limitations “are not warranted.”
He said that “it is not an optimal measure for controlling the import of Ebola virus” and noted that “the measure does not reflect what is known about the way in which the virus passes between people.”
The UN Spokesperson underscored that this trend of limitations on flights is having “adverse effects” on efforts to control the disease. He warned that these restrictions are “hampering the movement of international experts involved in the control efforts.”
Dujarric also noted that the flight restrictions in West Africa hinder the capacities of aid organizations like Médecins sans Frontières to deploy their personnel in support of the crisis response and mitigation. He also pointed out that the ability of programs involved in controlling the outbreak to transport essential equipment and materials to the region is also being “severely hampered.”
The UN official said that the flight limitations in place contribute to the economic and diplomatic isolation of the affected countries and warned that it “further compound the stigmatization already experienced by their citizens.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the latest figures are a total of 2,615 cases and 1,427 deaths reported in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
The Congolese authorities, the World Health Organization and NGOs are mobilizing against the disease.
Ebola was first discovered in the DRC in 1976. This is the seventh time the disease has broken out, with the latest bout being in 2012 when some 36 people died in Province Orientale.
