Ebola containment programme draws calls for more funding

Health facilities in the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are overwhelmed and essential supplies are running out, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Monday.

More resources are urgently needed to contain the outbreak, the IFRC said, as supplies of clean water and protective equipment near depletion.

The IFRC is appealing for 20 million Swiss francs ($25 million) to help contain the outbreak in Bulape, in the centre of DR Congo. The outbreak, the country's first in three years, was declared in early September.

DR Congo's dense tropical forests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches and diarrhoea. It can linger in the body of survivors and resurface years later.

'Health facilities overwhelmed'

"Health facilities are overwhelmed, essential supplies are not available, and the area is without power," Ariel Kestens, IFRC Head of Delegation in Kinshasa, said in a statement.