Ebola-hit DR Congo faces 'catastrophic collision' of disease and conflict, WHO warns

The DR Congo country director for the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has told the BBC it will take several weeks to get proper infrastructure in place to contain the outbreak.This outbreak is a rare species of Ebola, known as Bundibugyo, for which there are no vaccines or medicines.DR Congo health authorities have been struggling to confirm cases of the 220 deaths, only 17 people so far have been confirmed by lab tests as having died from the disease.Medics are also facing a race against time to trace 3,600 people identified as contacts of the infected group. Some 2,000 tests have been distributed, with a further 4,000 due to be sent out. Experimental treatments - including an antibody developed in the US - could also be introduced soon.Ewald Stals, MSF director in DR Congo, said the medical charity and other organisations were working to get medical supplies and workers in to the epicentre of the crisis but insecurity and poor transport links in Ituri province made it difficult."Slowly but surely, there is, of course, some activity going on, but overall, we're still far behind having a control on the situation," he told the BBC.