Health

Ituri province in eastern DRC is the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak. The response to the virus is underway. On the frontlines of this outbreak are healthcare workers, who feel increasingly helpless. They have never faced an outbreak of this magnitude before. Report by Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula, Paula Sevilles and Jorkim Jotham Pituwa. ]

Genie Godula is pleased to welcome Dr. Hypolite Muhindo Mavoko, M.D., Professor in the Department of Tropical Medicine at the University of Kinshasa. Dr. Mavoko offers a sobering analysis of the latest Ebola outbreak linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain in the eastern DR Congo. He places the crisis within a longer epidemiological history, reminding viewers that it was first identified in Uganda in 2007 before appearing in the DRC in 2012. He warns that “the body can still continue transmitting the disease” even after death, underscoring how burial practices may unintentionally accelerate contagion. Yet beyond the virology, he offers a broader commentary on public health assistance in conflict zones: “For that, we need peace and security.” ]

François Picard is pleased to welcome Anne Moore, Professor of Biochemistry at University College Cork. She is warning about the seriousness of the latest Ebola outbreak linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain. While tests and vaccines exist for the Zaire strain, Professor Moore says “we don’t yet have proof that vaccines work against the current strain” and that tests have not yet been designed to detect Bundibugyo. Moore stressed that shrinking international funding is weakening the global response. “We’re plugging gaps instead of deploying the full countermeasures we could.” Moore broadens her analysis beyond virology, arguing for international solidarity and institutional resilience. ]

M​edical personnel were rushing on Monday to the frontlines of a fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with cases also confirmed in Uganda. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks with Muhammad Munir, professor in virology at Lancaster University. He says that "the scale of the outbreak is way bigger than what we're having now and that is the reason the WHO decided on a public health emergency of international concern". ]

The cruiseship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus has finally docked in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. It will be disinfected and the crew will go into quarantine. It will then be setting sail for Iceland, where it is to start another trip on May 29. FRANCE 24's Fernande Van Tets tells us ore from Amsterdam ]