WHO lowers number of suspected Ebola cases in Congo, but health officials say major challenges remain

The United Nations’ World Health Organization significantly reduced the number of suspected cases on Tuesday Ebola outbreaks in central Africareduced to 116 from over 900, with a total of 330 confirmed cases.

The WHO said that as of May 31, there were 116 suspected cases of the deadly virus registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo – a sharp drop from the 906 on the books late last week.

In total, there are 321 confirmed cases in the DRC, including 48 deaths, while neighboring Uganda has nine confirmed cases, including one death.

While some suspected cases have been confirmed, many others have been “cleared” after being shown to be other diseases or unrelated flu, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters on Tuesday at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva.

While the less frightening crowding can help, doctors who work on the front lines of the disease say they might have learned about it earlier, and stress that there are many challenges to controlling it.

The International Rescue Committee charity told CBS News that the current outbreak may have spread, without being detected, in early January.

Dr. Abdou Sebushishe, a doctor working with the International Medical Corps in the eastern DRC city of Goma, told CBS News that workers trying to track down and talk to people who came into contact with Ebola patients were unable to reach about a quarter of those contacted. He said that when he was contacted, others said that they believed that Ebola does not even exist.

“Instead of coming to health care services, they take other solutions and traditional healers or other methods, and participate in the spread of this disease,” he told CBS News. “My message is that Ebola is real.”

He believes it could be “more than six months before the disease is under control.”

“I think this outbreak is beyond the current response, and there are changes being made to catch up,” he said, noting that doctors like him still need more resources, including basics like protective gear, “to increase the protection of health care workers.”

He added that 20% of all young people with this disease are health workers.

But there is growing hope this week that the strain of Ebola behind the deadly disease can be defeated, even by people who contract the virus. The five leading nurses who contracted the disease while treating patients have recovered and have been declared free of Ebola.

“I called the team and told them that something is wrong here,” he said. “I decided to rest a little, and after a few minutes I started vomiting.”

But he was among the doctors who were given Ebola survivor certificates this week by visiting WHO chief Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus.

“Getting out of this disease alive is an indescribable joy,” said Baraka Bulambulu, another health worker who recovered.

Tedros said testing, treatment capacity and the trust of health workers all still needed to be improved, but stressed that, “if you arrive early, and if you receive medical care, as others survive you can survive.”