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Ebola Outbreak in East Congo's Main City Tests Flexibility of Response

Reuters

   GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Deo Bakulu has been washing his
   hands every chance he gets since Ebola reached eastern Democratic
   Republic of Congo's main city of Goma last month.

   But the washing station set up by local authorities near his home is
   only open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Monday through Saturday, and he
   doesn't have running water.

   "Does Ebola only spread during the day?" he asked ironically as a
   health official at a different station aimed an infrared thermometer at
   his temple. "What about on Sundays?"

   Goma, a city of nearly 2 million people, is on high alert after the
   first transmission of the virus within it was confirmed last week. That
   raised fears the outbreak could spread within the densely-populated
   city and beyond via its border with Rwanda and the international
   airport.

   A gold miner carried the virus from the epicenter of the epidemic,
   which is several hundred kilometers to the north. He spent a week at
   home ill with his wife and 10 children before being transferred to
   hospital, where he died the next day. His wife and daughter then tested
   positive for the disease.

   Goma has had time to get ready for Ebola, given a nearly year-long head
   start as the disease raged near the cities of Beni and Butembo. Most
   residents appear to have taken the latest developments in stride,
   queuing up at the dozens of washing stations set up on sidewalks by the
   government and private businesses and avoiding shaking hands.

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