WHO chief says suspected Ebola deaths at 220 as epidemic ‘outpacing us’

Tedros ⁠Adhanom Ghebreyesus says ​a delay in detecting cases means responders were now ‘playing catch-up’.The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) says there have been 220 suspected deaths ⁠in the current Ebola-outbreak" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="127360" data-entity-type="event">Ebola outbreak and that a delay in detecting cases meant responders are now “playing catch-up”.“We are urgently scaling up operations, ‌but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us,” Tedros ⁠Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, adding that countries bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) should take immediate action.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Uganda confirms 3 new Ebola cases, as 10 more countries ‘at risk’ of viruslist 2 of 3DR Congo will not change World Cup preparations despite US Ebola warninglist 3 of 3Violence and overcrowding hampers Ebola response in DRCend of listEarlier on Monday, Uganda reported ⁠two more Ebola cases, taking ⁠its total number of confirmed cases to seven.In a post on social media on Sunday, the WHO chief said that as surveillance efforts have been scaled up in the DRC’s Ebola response, more than 900 suspected cases have been identified so far.Ebola is a viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure, leading to death.The epicentre of the latest outbreak is in the DRC’s northeastern province of Ituri, and it has also spread into the neighbouring provinces, as far as 200km (125 miles) away from “ground zero”, as well as beyond the country’s borders, to Uganda.No vaccine or treatment exists for the new Ebola" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="128429" data-entity-type="topic">Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.Last week, the WHO declared the outbreak of the rare Ebola" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="128429" data-entity-type="topic">Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern, and fear has gripped the streets of cities in the DRC and Uganda.Meanwhile, in Uganda, health authorities said they had detected two more confirmed cases of Ebola on Monday, bringing the total number of cases reported in the country to seven.