Dr Catherine Houlihan returned home to the UK from the African nation in June
A British doctor who has helped fight Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo says an experimental vaccine ‘has changed the path of the outbreak’.
Dr Catherine Houlihan, from Aberdeen, returned home to the UK from the African nation in June after spending a month at the heart of the epidemic.
The 39-year-old said the jab has helped stop the situation spiralling out of control, amid fears it could spread to neighbouring countries.
Official figures show 2,070 people have died from Ebola in the DRC’s current outbreak, which is the second worst ever recorded in history.
Dr Houlihan is a lecturer in infectious diseases and virology at both the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University College London.
She said: ‘I think that the vaccine has changed the path of this outbreak. We could have already had a death toll similar to West Africa had we not had it.’
At least 11,000 people died in the worst ever outbreak of the killer virus between 2013-16, which decimated Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Dr Houlihan said the data shows that the experimental vaccine, developed by pharmaceutical firm Merck, is around 97 per cent effective.
‘Health care workers are one of the highest-risk groups for catching Ebola and this extra protection enables them to carry out their roles far more effectively,’ she said.
The vaccine, called V920, was developed with support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID).
More than 200,000 people have now been given the vaccine, proven to be around 97 per cent effective at preventing the lethal virus.
The 39-year-old said the jab has helped stop the situation spiralling out of control, amid fears it could spread to neighbouring countries.
Dr Houlihan was situated in Goma and Butembo in the war-torn North Kivu province, where more than 120 militia groups operate.
She said five per cent of all cases in the DRC are health care workers, most of whom work in smaller health facilities and not Ebola treatment centres.
She praised the bravery of local staff who have dealt with the outbreak from when it began last August and continue to work despite the dangers.
Efforts to contain the virus have been hampered by violent attacks on health workers and treatment centres.
Two Ebola health workers were killed last month in North Kivu and the World Health Organisation reported 42 attacks on treatment centres between January and May.
Dr Houlihan said: ‘The security situation in DR Congo is the biggest difference between this outbreak and the West Africa one.
Dr Houlihan was situated in Goma and Butembo in the war-torn North Kivu province, where more than 120 militia groups operate
The Ebola death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo tops 2,000 a year after the outbreak was declared, government data shows
‘Certainly, doing visits to small health centres outside of Goma wasn’t a comfortable journey, knowing that you might meet armed militia and that health workers have been targets.
‘We drove past people carrying a gun and it was sometimes a struggle to tell whether they were the army or Mai Mai militias if they were wearing camouflage gear.’
Dr Houlihan, who spent some time in Sierra Leone during the West Africa outbreak, added: ‘It was more anxiety provoking than my previous experiences.’
International Development Secretary Alok Sharma said: ‘Ebola has already taken far too many lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
‘Shockingly, it has wiped out entire families and, a year after this outbreak started, it is showing no sign of slowing down.
‘The UK has led the way in tackling this killer disease and we can be proud of our support to create a life-saving Ebola vaccine which has inoculated 180,000 people so far.
‘Diseases like Ebola have no respect for borders. This could be spread beyond DRC. It is essential the rest of the international community steps up to help.’
Calling on the international community to chip in and help, he added: ‘If we don’t act now, many thousands more lives could be lost.’
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