Com 894 casos confirmados até agora, o surto atual é três vezes pior do que a anterior no Uganda, em 2000, que tinha 281 infetados confirmados pela doença no mesmo período, disse Wessam Mankoula, médico epidemiologista do África CDC.
O número mais recente de casos acredita-se ser maior, porque o surto só foi confirmado a 15 de maio, semanas depois de se suspeitar que tinha começado. O número de casos aumentou 38% desde a semana passada e encontra-se agora em 32 zonas de saúde no leste do Congo, adiantou Mankoula.
O surto foi causado pelo raro vírus Bundibugyo, que não tem vacinas ou tratamentos aprovados e não foi testado nos primeiros dias.
O vírus Zaire, mais comum, para o qual existe uma vacina, foi responsável pela maior parte dos casos no Congo.
Até agora, 74 pacientes recuperaram da doença no leste do Congo e no Uganda. Estão a ser desenvolvidos tratamentos experimentais, como anticorpos monoclonais, para a Bundibugyo.
O surto está concentrado na província oriental de Ituri, no Congo, que regista mais de 90% dos casos.
Também foram registados casos nas províncias de North Kivu e South Kivu, e a doença espalhou-se para o Uganda, onde foram relatados 19 casos confirmados e duas pessoas morreram.
O rastreio de contactos continua a ser um problema, devido ao isolamento da região e à insegurança contínua na província de Ituri, sublinhou Mankoula.
"Para esses 800 casos confirmados, deveríamos ter entre 17.000 a 35.000 contactos na nossa lista de contactos", afirmou aquele responsável do África CDC.
Atualmente, apenas cerca de 4.000 contactos foram rastreados e estão a ser avaliados, menos de 15%. "Ainda estamos longe de controlar a situação deste surto", acrescentou o médico.
Quase um milhão de pessoas foram deslocadas por anos de conflito em Ituri, segundo o escritório humanitário da ONU, o que torna o rastreio de contactos difícil, à medida que as pessoas fogem de ataques ou se deslocam frequentemente na vasta província com florestas densas, estradas em mau estado e aldeias remotas, que podem demorar dias a alcançar.
O rastreio também é complicado entre os milhares de mineiros que se movem regularmente entre locais remotos na região rica em minerais.
Dos mais de 900 milhões de dólares prometidos para combater o surto, apenas 90 milhões foram disponibilizados para ajudar no combate à doença, complicando ainda mais a crise em curso, segundo Mankoula.
A Africa CDC estima precisar de 540 pessoas para combater o surto e, até agora, só têm 84.
"Estamos a torcer para que essas novas promessas sejam aceleradas, e vamos acompanhar os diferentes Estados-membros e parceiros sobre o compromisso de transformar essas promessas em dinheiro realmente libertado para os países ou parceiros afetados", concluiu.
Read the full article at RTP Notícias →📄Source document: World Health Organization→5 reports
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Official sources cited
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