Fears grow that Ebola will spread to South Sudan after a woman dies of the virus close to the border

Fears Ebola^[1] will spread into South Sudan from the Congo have grown after officials revealed the killer virus has moved close to the border.

Health officials claim a mother died from the virus in Ariwara, 43miles (70km) from South Sudan and roughly 12miles (20km) from Uganda.  

The woman, reported to be 40 years old, caught Ebola in Beni, a major city at the hub of the outbreak ravaging the DRC. 

Congo's Health Ministry claims she travelled 310miles (500km) to visit her sister in Ariwara, ignoring official advice not to move around.  

It's the closest Ebola has got to South Sudan - considered the most vulnerable of all countries neighbouring the DRC, where almost 1,600 people have been killed.

Three people have already died from Ebola in Uganda, after they crossed the border from the DRC. However, the nation is far more prepared for the killer virus.

However, infectious disease experts fear South Sudan's weak health system and ongoing civil war could hamper the country's response. 

Officials have ramped up surveillance measures to avoid Ebola spreading over the porous borders, where there are many unofficial checking points.   

Dr Pinyi Nyimol, director general of South Sudan's Disease Control and Emergency Response Centre, said a team of reinforcements had been sent to South Sudan in the hopes of stopping the spread.

He said: 'We are very worried because it is coming nearer, and people are on the move so contact (with Ebola) could cross to South Sudan.'

Ariwara is in DRC's northeastern Ituri province, and is reportedly a place where people from DRC, South Sudan and Uganda meet to trade products for selling.  

Some 2,369 Ebola cases have been confirmed In the DRC since the outbreak began last August. A case was confirmed in Ariwara on July 1 by Congo's Health Ministry.

The body said the woman was a mother of five children, who were confirmed to have Ebola in Beni. Two children died on June 18 and 22.

The mother was identified by health officials as having been exposed to Ebola and warned not to travel. But on June 26, she fled to Ariwara.

A health alert was issued and 177 family contacts were listed in Ariwara, 40 of which had already been vaccinated.  

Dr Sterghios Moschos, an associate professor at Northumbria University, said it's a very bad sign that the outbreak has spread. 

Dr Moschos told MailOnline: 'South Sudan healthcare is practically non-existent. 

'In realistic terms, it basically means that, if Ebola crosses the border, there’s very little chance that the South Sudanese will know what hit them. 

'South Sudan doesn’t have the basics, let alone the resources needed to tackle Ebola. 

'We will need to step in in earnest, because need is not financially met even in the DRC right now.' 

Adrian Ouvry, a humanitarian advisor for the aid organisation Mercy Corps, said: 'Sudan would struggle.

'The other countries at risk include Rwanda and Burundi. But of all of them, South Sudan is by the far most vulnerable.'

In South Sudan's Yeir River State, thousands of people have been displaced due to fighting between the National Salvation Front and government forces.

Since September, officials say almost 20,000 civilians have been driven into the DRC and Uganda, raising concerns of fluid movement over borders.

According to local reports, refugees often criss-cross between countries in search for food, water, or shelter amid South Sudan's civil unrest. 

Roughly 12miles (20km) to the east of Ariwara is the border to Uganda, where Ebola was confirmed to have spread last month, killing three people. 

The government in Uganda was praised for managing to stop Ebola spiraling out of control when they declared there were no longer any cases.

On June 13, two days after Ebola was confirmed in Uganda, South Sudan launched a plan to prevent the disease spreading and prepare for a possible outbreak.

According to the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan, a $28.5million plan to combat Ebola is only 50 per cent funded.  

With the money, officials plan to boost the surveillance system, scale up training for front-line health workers and increase the number of isolation units. 

The World Health Organization has assessed the risk of the disease spreading to South Sudan as being 'very high'.

Around 2,000 health workers in South Sudan have been vaccinated, Ebola taskforces meet weekly and lab staff have been trained in how to safely handle samples for testing in preparation for a potential spread.

More than two million people have been screened while entering the country and there is an Ebola treatment unit and laboratory in the capital, Juba.

However, many are able to escape screening because there are unofficial crossing points, used for markets, trading and to visit families. 

Only 57 per cent of the incoming travellers are screened, according to a report published on July 3 by OCHA. 

Crossing over borders without detection is how a family brought Ebola into Uganda from the Congo. 

The family had been at the burial of a relative in the DRC before they were stopped at a border while returning to Uganda, 

More than one of them were showing symptoms of Ebola – which include vomiting, a fever and diarrhoea. 

But the family escaped from authorities and crossed into Uganda through a market place at Mpondwe, a busy border post where many use dirt trails or footpaths.    

A day later, the family rushed to hospital in the Kasese district where it was confirmed three – two young boys and their grandmother – had been struck with the killer virus. The three all died over the next few days.

It drove the World Health Organization to hold an emergency meeting on June 14, in which they concluded that the risk of spread to countries outside the DRC 'remains low'.

A declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) was rejected for the third time because WHO said it would 'cause too much economic harm'.   

Ebola spreads among humans through close contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of an infected person, or objects contaminated by such fluids.

References

1. ^{^} Ebola (www.bing.com)