The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called on the Ugandan authorities to reconsider the decision to temporarily close the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, introduced due to an Ebola outbreak. He stated this during a visit to an Ebola isolation center in the country's capital, Kampala, Reuters reports, according to UNN.
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Tedros noted that general travel restrictions are not an effective tool for combating the spread of the disease.
"General travel restrictions do not work, so I hope they will reconsider this issue,"
At the same time, the head of the organization praised the actions of the Ugandan authorities in response to the outbreak, calling them prompt and effective. The WHO had previously declared the outbreak of the rare "Bundibugyo" strain of the Ebola virus a public health emergency of international concern.
The highest number of infections has been recorded in the Congolese province of Ituri, where 515 out of 544 cases have been confirmed. In Uganda, 19 cases of Ebola have been confirmed to date, most of which are linked to the arrival of infected individuals from Congo.
Ebola outbreak in Africa could exceed the scale of the 2014 epidemic - WHO06.06.26, 20:04