The World Health Organization warned Thursday that security incidents continue to "severely impede" public health activities working to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where transmission is "intense" in some communities in the city of Beni.
Why it matters: Recent violence has halted education and vaccination campaigns several times, jeopardizing strides made in containing the outbreak, such as tracking contacts of infected people, educating wary community members and administering vaccinations.
Yes, but: There's some good news too. WHO says they don't plan on reducing their roughly 250-person response team there, the DRC's Ministry of Health says they've been able to resume vaccinations, and WHO's Peter Salama says there has been "significant progress" in certain areas, like community engagement.
Go deeper:
- Read this piece by France 24's "The Observers" for some on-the-ground perspective.
- Congo's deadly mix of regional conflict and an Ebola outbreak