00:02Currently, WHO is aware that 13 cases of Ebola have been confirmed by INRB in Kinshasa.
00:11This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in DRC since the virus was first identified in
00:191976.
00:21DRC has a strong track record in Ebola response and control.
00:26I have also assured the Minister of our full support.
00:30The World Health Organization is representative to DRC and other WHO experts are in itery and
00:38working side by side with DRC health authorities to respond to and contain the outbreak.
00:46Additional WHO experts in risk communication and community engagement, infection prevention
00:51and control, clinical care and logistics will join the WHO team already on the ground in
00:58coming days.
00:59We have deployed medical supplies and protective equipment for infection prevention and control
01:05to Bunia, the itery provincial capital.
01:10Today I have released 500,000 US dollars from WHO's contingency fund for emergencies to immediately
01:17support the response.
01:20The region where it is happening is highly volatile with the humanitarian situation going on and
01:26the population moving around from South Sudan to Uganda and other parts.
01:31So our response is to stand with the regional government, with the regional government and
01:36the country neighbour in terms of solidarity to show again that they can control this outbreak.
01:43I want to emphasize it's important to understand the geography this time.
01:46Ituri is 1700 kilometers from Kishasa.
01:51So underscoring the operational complicity of responding rapidly in such remote and highly mobile settings.
02:03The outbreak is a reminder of the persistent threat to human health of disease outbreaks and
02:10the importance of cooperation and solidarity to continually strengthen global health security.
02:16The response to the hantavirus outbreak is a recent, prime example of what can happen
02:24when the world comes together to confront a disease threat.
02:29Yesterday I wrote again to the people of Tenerife to thank them for the solidarity they showed
02:35to the passengers and crew of the MB Hondius affected by the hantavirus outbreak.
02:42WHO worked together with approximately 30 governments, the ship's captain, crew and passengers, the cruise
02:51ship operator and crucially the people of Tenerife to manage this crisis.
02:56At a time of great division, tension and uncertainty, we must respond jointly to common challenges that
03:03our global community faces in the spirit of cooperation.
03:08For as we at WHO always say, solidarity is the best immunity.
03:14I am pleased to report that the operation to transfer the ship's passengers from Tenerife
03:20has been successfully completed, with more than 120 people now being carried for in their home
03:27countries or quarantined in host countries in route to their final destination.
03:34As of today, a total of 10 cases, including 3 deaths, have been reported to WHO, including
03:418 people who were laboratory confirmed for Andes virus infection and 2 probable.
03:47There have been no further deaths reported since the 2nd of May.
03:52Because of the long incubation period of up to 6 weeks, more cases may be reported in coming
03:59days as passengers return to their countries where they are being quarantined and tested in
04:05specialized facilities or at home.
04:09This does not mean the outbreak is expanding.
04:12It shows that the control measures are working, that laboratory testing is ongoing and that people
04:18are being cared for with support from their governments.
04:23There is quite a bit of experience with hantaviruses in general, and these are typically viruses that
04:29are in rodents that spill over into humans.
04:31We do note that the Andes virus, which is responsible for this outbreak that we have on the ship, can
04:36transmit between people.
04:38There is some evidence, certainly in the outbreak that we have right now, of human-to-human transmission.
04:45I do want to remind everyone that our general risk for the global public is low.
04:51So we are taking a precautionary approach, assuming that there might be additional cases that were
04:58on board, which is why the quarantine measures are so strict for those who have left the ship
05:03already.
05:15And they're working for people.
05:16And they're working on a plan.
05:17There are many side effects of the ship's mast and the ship.
05:17And they're working on a ship.
05:17And I'm sure they're not going to be very, very, very important.
05:17What is this, there's going to be a half a fish on the ship.
05:17So a great action is that it's going to be aumpaic, then we want to be very, very important.
05:18So we are going to get into this situation.
05:18So we are going to be a little bit of a bioengineering.
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