Six tons of medical supplies to fight Ebola are set to arrive in ​the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)  this Tuesday but limited testing capacity was ‌slowing the response to the outbreak, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said.

The WHO says there have been at least 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths from ​Ebola, which has also spread to neighbouring Uganda.

“We have sent 12 ​tons of supply. An additional six are arriving today. These ⁠include personal protective equipment for frontline health workers (and) samples,” said Anne ​Ancia, WHO Representative in DRC’s Ituri province.

Ancia said there was “great uncertainty” about the ​extent and scale of the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, and efforts were under way to increase surveillance, testing and contact tracing.

She said testing for the ​Bundibugyo strain was limited, with only six tests an hour possible. The ​outbreak took weeks to detect, she said, partly because tests used in the outbreak zone ‌were ⁠designed for the more common Zaire strain.

“The surveillance capacity and investigation capacity are very limited in this region in general,” she added.
Ancia said funding shortages were having a tremendous impact on the WHO’s ability to fight ​Ebola.

The United States ​(US) officially left the ⁠WHO in January and under President Donald Trump has slashed global health spending, but cooperation with the US on fighting ​the outbreak was working “very, very well”, Ancia said.

“We understand ​that we ⁠cannot receive the funding, it’s okay, but we want to keep talking, we want to keep exchanging information, and we want to collaborate,” she said.

The ⁠United Nations humanitarian ​office OCHA said that it had only ​received 34% of $1.4 billion in funding for its appeal for the DRC ​this year, adding that more than half came from Washington.

–Reuters–