The World Health Organization has warned of a "catastrophic collision of disease and conflict" in the Ebola-affected region in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calling on Wednesday for an immediate ceasefire.
"We cannot build community trust or isolate the sick while bombs are falling," Tedros wrote on the X platform.
He appealed to the warring parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire so that the outbreak can be contained.
Because there is no vaccine and no specific medicines against the circulating Ebola variant, the chain of infection can only be broken if those infected are treated under the highest safety standards and their contacts isolate for three weeks.
However, due to the ongoing fighting, people are often displaced and contacts of infected people cannot keep away from others in overcrowded refugee camps.
"We plea to prioritise human survival above everything else," Tedros wrote.
