00:00A crowd armed with machetes chased after Ebola responders who were trying to bury a victim in Eastern Democratic Republic
00:07of Congo.
00:07The violence is one of the latest attacks on frontline workers struggling to contain the rapidly spreading pandemic.
00:15To discuss this story, I'm now joined by Bloomberg's chief Africa correspondent, Jennifer Zafisaja.
00:20Jen, good to have you with us.
00:22Just over 100 days at this point since the outbreak was declared.
00:26Where are we now when it comes to the Ebola outbreak?
00:31Yeah, that's right, Abir.
00:33Just about 100 days and about 14 weeks since we did get that official declaration of the Ebola outbreak.
00:40And right now, from what we're hearing from officials, it's becoming even more difficult to contain and respond to the
00:47way that this outbreak is spreading.
00:49Just to give you a bit of context right now, just over more than 5,500 people have been infected
00:56by our latest numbers.
00:57And just over 2,642 people have died.
01:02For comparison, back with the last Ebola outbreak in 2013, it took that outbreak more than 30 weeks to reach
01:13the comparable number that we have now in terms of infected cases.
01:16Right now, we're about 14 weeks after the epidemic was declared.
01:21And so, really, what we're hearing from officials on the front line is that this virus is spreading faster.
01:28It's spreading wider.
01:30Our reporting is that it's now covering an area larger than France, just to give you that insight.
01:36And as you were just mentioning there in your intro, we're seeing violence strikes and also shortages of key supplies
01:43really making it difficult for frontline workers
01:45to not only figure out and try and stop some of this transmission, but also to really address the current
01:55situation on the ground there.
01:57So, it's still quite a precarious situation for East Africa and for the DRC.
02:04So, Jen, has any action been taken then to quell this violence that you were just talking about?
02:11Well, I think what's important to note, Abir, is why this is happening.
02:16In this country, a lot of the concern for health officials is a lot of the traditional burials that do
02:25happen could, in fact, compound and make it even more difficult for some of the spread.
02:31And so, what we have been hearing, at least more recently, is that some of the violence is perhaps targeting
02:36some of these burial sites.
02:39And so, it's important to note that that is happening, but it's also important to note that we're also seeing
02:46acts of intimidation around some of these healthcare officials.
02:51What we heard from one UN senior Ebola coordinator described the conditions facing frontline workers as, quote, brutal, and he
03:00said the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response.
03:03And so, frontline workers are doing what they can, but it's important to note that a lot of these traditions
03:10are a part of the culture.
03:12And still, you know, from what we've heard from a number of officials in the country and elsewhere, there's still
03:17quite a bit of mistrust.
03:19So, that is still, knowledge is still very much a part of this.
03:22But for officials and for healthcare workers, they are working to quickly approve an Ebola vaccine to hopefully quell some
03:30of the concern here
03:31and also the transmission and spread of the virus.
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