Who Chief Urges Countries To Reconsider Ebola Travel Restrictions

KIGALI (Rwanda), May 31 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday urged countries that have imposed travel restrictions and closed their borders following the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to reconsider the measures, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

Canada and the US have imposed travel restrictions and visa suspensions on residents from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, citing the outbreak.

Rwanda and Uganda have also restricted travel from Congo. Both countries share a border with Congo.

Foreign nationals who have travelled through Congo in the last 30 days are not permitted to enter Rwanda.

Addressing a news conference in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province and the epicentre of the outbreak, Tedros said unity and solidarity were the best weapons against the Ebola epidemic, while travel restrictions could discourage transparency in reporting cases.

He urged local communities to remain at the centre of the response to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no approved vaccine or treatment currently exists.

"We are not here to tell people what to do. We are here to listen," he said. "Communities understand their own challenges and their own solutions. Our role is to support you in implementing those solutions, together."

At least 134 confirmed cases have been reported in the current outbreak in Congo and Uganda, according to an update released by the WHO on Friday.

Deaths from Ebola stand at 18 among the confirmed cases in the two countries.

Congolese health authorities said new suspected cases continue to be registered, with a cumulative total of more than 1,000 recorded since the outbreak was declared on May 15.

The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is concentrated in three eastern Congolese provinces -- Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU