Red Cross volunteers buried a six-month-old orphan under strict Ebola protocols in eastern DRC’s Bunia on Friday, as health workers warned that the outbreak in Ituri province is continuing to spread one month after it was officially declared.
Footage shows Red Cross teams disinfecting vehicles, putting on protective gear and preparing the infant’s coffin for transport to the cemetery. Volunteers are later seen handling the burial under strict infection-control measures.
“When the team goes to conduct a dignified and safe burial, they come into contact with several viruses, and when they arrive here at the base, I, as a basic hygiene officer, completely disinfect the vehicle that transported the body and the [team],” explained Red Cross volunteer Alain Salama.
Red Cross communications officer Alex Rock framed the child’s death as an example of the human cost of delayed detection and transmission inside communities.
“[You] cannot remain indifferent to such a situation. It’s a baby; he had his whole life ahead of him and unfortunately, he was cut down by the disease,” Rock said.
“This once again highlights how important the rapid detection of cases is, so that infected patients can be isolated and the chain of transmission can be broken. If these measures had been put in place in time, the baby we are burying today might not have been infected,” he emphasised
He further stressed that the epidemic remains active, calling for faster case detection and urging people to seek treatment immediately after the first symptoms appear.
“The disease is unfortunately not retreating. It continues to be present within communities and continues to severely affect families,” the communications officer noted.
“At the very first symptoms, people must come forward and seek care at an approved treatment centre. We must also succeed in mobilising the entire community so that accurate, life-saving messages can be shared,” he urged.
The DRC declared the outbreak on May 15, after laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the Bundibugyo virus. The outbreak later spread to Uganda, and the WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17.
The outbreak is DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976.
Source: Viory
