DR Congo: Ebola response resumes despite 'risky environment'.

Despite a precarious security environment and continuing pockets of mistrust on the part of affected populations, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Tuesday that all Ebola-affected areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) North Kivu Province are now accessible to health workers.

Civil unrest in Beni, the epicenter of the epidemic, crippled operations last month. But WHO says that now, under Government leadership and in collaboration with partner agencies, the Ebola response has resumed in force. However, it warned, further disruptions and security issues, could seriously impact the complex effort to end the outbreak.

The main challenges to the response are a hazardous security situation and the inability to prevent and control infection in many public and private health facilities.

WHO revealed that some 577 confirmed cases and 377 deaths have been recorded since the outbreak was declared in August last year. The UN agency also stated that 220 people have recovered and more than 56,500 have been vaccinated.

From 31 December 2018 to 2 January 2019, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled to Ebola-affected areas in the DRC, where he...