The Ebola outbreak is posing massive challenges for medical aid organisations, a senior humanitarian official has said.

Kate White, who is a programme manager for the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and is flying out to the Democratic Republic of Congo, says she is "extremely concerned about the inability to get resources" to the country.

Three Red Cross volunteers who died earlier this month were among the first known victims of DR Congo's Ebola outbreak, and likely caught it while managing dead bodies.

The outbreak has resulted in more than 200 suspected deaths and more than 850 suspected cases.

White, who flew from Manchester Airport on Sunday as part of an international relief effort, said: "It really reinforces the need to make sure that we have all of the protective measures in place."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently said the disease may be spreading faster than originally thought and has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

There is no approved vaccine for this outbreak, experimental ones are in development.

There are also no drugs that target it, making the illness harder to treat.

EPA Health workers wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) lift a coffin of a victim on to the back of a pick-up truck in Bunia. Some people with masks watch them outside a hospital. — The virus is believed to have led to the deaths of more than 200 people since April

White, from York, who has worked on previous Ebola epidemics in Africa, said: "In terms of how many years we have been seeing these outbreaks for and we still don't have comprehensive medical countermeasures... [treatment, vaccines, diagnostic testing that can be rolled out rapidly] says something about the state of the world right now."

She added that she was also concerned about the impact of airspace closures on the transport of healthcare workers and resources to affected areas.

"The pure volume of what we need to get in right now is massive."

Improvements in the ability to confirm cases were required "across all of the geographic areas where it's impacting because we don't want people stuck in treatment centres if they don't have it", she said.

"We want to be able to discharge them as soon as they recover from it so they can go back to their families, and we're not there yet."

Reuters On a street in the DR Congo city of Goma, a health worker in a blue face mask and medical apron takes the temperature of a woman with a device near her head. Another woman and man stand on the other side waiting. — Health workers have been monitoring people's temperatures as they try to prevent the outbreak spreading

What is Ebola and what are the symptoms?

Ebola is a rare but deadly disease caused by a virus.

Ebola viruses normally infect animals, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals.

It takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear. They come on suddenly and start like the flu or malaria, with fever, headache and tiredness.

As the disease progresses, vomiting and diarrhoea develop and it can lead to organ failure. Some, but not all, patients develop internal and external bleeding.

The virus spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.

Ebola outbreaks used to be small and contained to remote rural areas. However, urbanisation is pushing larger populations closer to these natural reservoirs of Ebola and increasing the risk of transmission.

A BBC graphic explains Ebola's effects on the body

The latest outbreak is challenging because it involves a rare species of Ebola for which there is no vaccine, and the epicentre is in an area affected by conflict.

"This [outbreak] has been going on for a substantive period of time before it was picked up, which means we don't fully understand the chains of transmission," White added.

"When we don't fully understand that, it becomes much more difficult to get it under control."

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Tags:

Ebola outbreak causes serious problems, nurse warns

Suggested for you

More Stories

Bolivia minister supervising roadblock clearance ambushed

Person Dies, Many Trapped After Building Collapse in Philippines

Trump tells US negotiators 'no rush' to reach Iran deal

Conte to leave Napoli after one season of winning Serie A

Fifi Folson marks 20 years on air with Thanksgiving Service, launches teen gospel initiative

Raducanu exits French Open in first round

Discussion