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Relief workers and doctors cannot contain a dangerous Ebola outbreak in Africa because of politics and terrorism.
Political interference and violence, including machete attacks, are making it difficult to control an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In particular, the World Health Organization (WHO) suspended vaccinations in the city of Beni because of violence.
Specifically, Beni was WHO’s base of operations for the Ebola outbreak. As a result of the attacks, nobody is being vaccinated or tested for Ebola there.
Terrorists Interfering In Ebola Outbreak Relief Operations
For example, an Islamic terror group called the Allied Defense Forces is apparently targeting vaccinators, NBC News reports. Over 100 different armed groups are reportedly operating in the Ebola outbreak area.
The Beni base was closed because of seven consecutive terror attacks, as Dr. Peter Salama, WHO’s head of emergency preparedness, revealed. Terrorists are explicitly attacking civilians in the Ebola outbreak area, Salama claims.
Particularly, WHO workers could only reach 20% of the potential victims. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of possible Ebola cases are going undetected or untreated.
Politicians Use Ebola Outbreak To Get Votes
Local politicians are making the Ebola outbreak worse by using it as a campaign issue.
For instance, politicians are spreading conspiracy theories about Ebola on the campaign trail. Consequently, those conspiracy theories are making it hard for WHO to test or vaccinate people for Ebola.
“That resistance, driven by quite natural fear of this terrifying disease, is being exploited by local politicians,” Salama claims.
Ebola Outbreak Kills 100 People In Africa
Authorities estimate that the Ebola outbreak in the North Kivu region has infected 150 people since July. They estimate the death toll at 100, thereby indicating that two out of every three people infected with Ebola have died so far.
The Ebola danger is spreading further because people are fleeing both violence and the disease. Notably, people from North Kivu are fleeing to nearby countries like Uganda.
Obviously, the danger is that those people will take Ebola with them. On the positive side, WHO has succeeded in vaccinating 11,000 people for Ebola in the region. On the negative side, chaos created by the violence makes it difficult for WHO to locate Ebola cases.
Significantly, North Kivu is the second major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this year. An earlier outbreak in the western part of the country reportedly killed 33 people and infected 53.
The Ebola Outbreak Threat Still Exists
It is important to realize that the danger from Ebola outbreaks is still high. In fact, the disease is still spreading in Africa.
Ebola is hard to treat because its symptoms resemble the flu and other common diseases. Under those circumstances, many victims do not seek medical treatment until it is too late.
Americans need to watch events in North Kivu carefully because they represent a dangerous escalation in terrorism. Specifically, terrorists are waging germ warfare without biological weapons.
Instead of spreading germs, terrorists are deliberately sabotaging relief efforts with the hope of spreading disease. Moreover, there are many historical examples of combatants using an existing disease as a weapon.
Notably, British and American soldiers and traders allegedly gave blankets infected with smallpox to Native Americans on the frontier. In particular, some armies threw the bodies of plague victims into besieged cities and fortresses to weaken their enemies.
Consequently, history teaches us that disease is a weapon. With this in mind, Americans must prepare for Ebola outbreaks and other plagues weaponized by terrorists.
