The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 75 health-care workers have been infected with the dangerous Ebola virus during the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Seventeen of them have died, Marie-Roseline Belizaire, the WHO's representative in Bunia, told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
She said it was not clear in all cases whether they had been infected at work or in their private lives.
The WHO is working flat out to supply even small clinics with equipment such as gloves and protective clothing, and to train staff to prevent infection, she said.
Of the 177 clinics surveyed, only four initially had the capacity and equipment to protect all their staff properly.
One challenge was that in this outbreak only 10% of those infected were showing the symptoms typical of Ebola, particularly bleeding, she said.
As a result, many people remained at home for too long, believing they had malaria, for example, instead of seeking treatment at specialized Ebola treatment centres.
This increased the risk of transmission within families and in small clinics, said Belizaire.
In total, she cited 896 confirmed cases, including 232 deaths. She added that, one month after the outbreak was declared, the situation remains serious and is constantly evolving.
