Ebola outbreak poses massive challenges, warns nurse | BBC News

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Now, three African nations currently fighting an Ebola outbreak have agreed to a plan to halt the spread of the virus across the region. Humanitarian organizations and health ministers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan will increase border monitoring, improve protection for frontline workers, and expand lab capacity. Well, they've expressed concern that trade and the displacement of people due to regional conflicts could make the situation even worse.

[00:00:28]Well, most of the cases have been in the DRC rising to more than 200 with more than 900 suspected cases.

[00:00:38]Well, there've also been cases in neighboring Uganda and Rwanda.

[00:00:44]Well, a nurse from England has flown to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help deal with the outbreak. Kate White, who works for Médecins Sans Frontières, will be responsible for coordinating the charity's health workers across the worst affected area where the outbreak began. Well, our medical editor, Fergus Walsh, has the story.

[00:01:05]Everyone else is going off on their summer holidays, and I'm going out to Congo.

[00:01:09]At Manchester Airport, Kate White was on the first leg of a long journey to the epicenter of the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[00:01:20]The 46-year-old, who's originally from Australia, has helped combat more than half a dozen deadly Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks in Africa in the past 14 years. She said this was potentially more serious than some previous emergencies. There is definitely more at stake with this, not just for me. I really think, you know, I'm one of the lucky ones. I get to go in, I get to do my job, and I get to come back out again. For the people that live in these areas of Congo, they do not have that luxury, and they also don't have the luxury of a robust health system.

[00:01:59]Kate White will be responsible for treatment centers, biosecurity, as well as health promotion, and engagement with the local community in Ituri province. I am extremely concerned about the inability to get resources in, whether that be people and moving them around to be able to respond, or the other materials that we need.

[00:02:23]At present, it's not possible to accurately test for Ebola in the affected region of DRC. Patient samples are being sent more than 1,000 miles to the capital Kinshasa for confirmation.

[00:02:36]On Friday, the World Health Organization raised the risk assessment for DRC to very high, though the global risk remains low.

[00:02:46]Fergus Walsh, BBC News.