Health officials in South Sudan’s Tambura State have expressed fears over lack of Ebola screening services along the border with the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, which is severely hit by the deadly virus, saying the population is at risk of contacting the virus.

Dr. Dobuol Gatjiek, the senior medical officer at Tambura hospital told Radio Tamazuj that the state remains at high risk due to lack of screening services at the common borders.

He said the health personnel in the state can only conduct awareness campaigns which are mostly done through the radio, leaving the population at risk of getting infected through cross-border movements.

Gatjiek appealed to the World Health Organization, WHO to support the state hospital with equipment as well as training for health personnel as part of preparedness and prevention.

According to WHO, as of 4th December, about 271 deaths have been reported in DRC’s North Kivu Province and Ituri Province. The risk of the outbreak spreading to other provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as to neighboring South Sudan and Uganda remains very high.  

Ebola virus disease or Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a fatal virus transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.