BUNIA, Congo — For patients in an Ebola outbreak with no approved medicine or vaccine, there is little comfort. But Arlette Basekawike, a volunteer for the U.N. food agency, is doing her best.
Her hair covered by a pink bonnet, Basekawike prepares porridge, omelets and bread for breakfast in a shed outside the Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo. Lunch and dinner might include fresh fish with fufu, made of mashed plantains, finished off by fruit. She feeds both patients and health workers.
“Even though the patients have this disease, they still feel better when they eat, and the doctors have the energy to treat the sick and give them medication,” Basekawike told The Associated Press as she prepared vegetables and potatoes with goat meat in a large pot. “I’m here for them like a parent, preparing food so they feel comfortable.”
Her contribution may appear like a simple task, but it has become a critical support for the remote region as it grapples with the rapidly spreading Bundibugyo virus, the rare species of Ebola confirmed in May.
As of Tuesday, 321 cases including 48 deaths had been confirmed in the Central African nation’s three eastern provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu, according to the World Health Organization. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the number of suspected cases has dropped to 116 from 906 last weekend as many were ruled out after investigation.
Neighboring Uganda's has had 15 cases and one death confirmed, its health ministry said Tuesday. Uganda closed its border with Congo last week despite WHO guidance not to do so.
Meanwhile, Congolese authorities reopened Bunia’s airport on Tuesday for domestic flights, requiring passengers to undergo temperature checks and respect strict sanitary measures.
The International Organization for Migration on Tuesday urged governments to strengthen cross-border coordination instead, warning that border closures could drive people's movement underground and increase transmission risks.
“Viruses do not stop at borders, and neither should our response,” said Ugochi Daniels, IOM deputy director-general for operations. “When borders close, people often continue moving through informal routes where health screening and surveillance are limited.”
The Congo-Uganda border has numerous footpaths beyond formal border posts.
Before the outbreak, the region already faced one of the world's most severe food crises, because of an ongoing conflict that has displaced millions of people as government forces fight rebels. The United Nations has warned that might complicate efforts to manage the spread of the virus among an already wary population.
“Ebola is an additional crisis on top of a crisis,” said Olivier Nkakudulu, who heads the World Food Program in Ituri province.
WFP is facing a critical choice as aid cuts by the U.S. and other major partners have disrupted operations in the vulnerable region. Efforts to contain the disease, which WHO has deemed a public health emergency of international concern, have been hampered.
Meanwhile, attacks by suspicious residents on health workers and the slow delivery of aid because of the conflict have been challenging.
Responders say they have ensured patients' nutritional demands are met as “comfort food” takes on a more significant meaning.
“Today we need to increase the amount because the number of patients has gone up,” said Esther Bao, a nurse and one of the volunteers. She worried about patients who, because of their health situation, “don't eat just any meal.”
Among the rare signs of optimism, at least five people have recovered in the outbreak, which continues to spread.
More than 400 meals have been served since the food assistance began on Thursday, according to Nkakudulu.
But "without more funding, we might not be able to prioritize every suspected case,” Nkakudulu said. "We might have to focus on some and not have food to give to others."
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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Geir Moulson in Berlin and Mark Banchereau in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
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