Ebola spreading in rural Congo, WHO warns

The World Health Organization (WHO) sees a worrying spread of the life-threatening Ebola disease into rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Six months after the start of the outbreak, the number of cases in the original areas was declining, UN emergency relief coordinator Chikwe Ihekweazu said in Geneva. In some cases, only half the beds were occupied in the treatment centres in Bunia, he noted.

But in remote, hard-to-reach regions, he said infection numbers are rising.

"Progress is fragile and not enough," Ihekweazu said.

These regions were already difficult to reach, without fighting between various militias creating a precarious security situation, he added. It was difficult to build new treatment centres there, the relief coordinator noted. He said the WHO was trying to become more agile so it could help people faster.

The biggest challenge was the precarious security situation, said Julien Harneis, Ebola coordinator at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bunia.

In the last few days, "more people were killed by ADF violence than by Ebola," he said in Geneva. The ADF is an armed Islamist militia that has been fighting for dominance in the region for years.

Harneis demanded that the threat posed by the ADF be taken more seriously and that action be taken against it.

Last week, 66 civilians were killed in an ADF attack, including three health workers. According to the African health agency Africa CDC, three health facilities were looted and set on fire.