Canada sends aid workers to east Africa to help ‘dire’ Ebola outbreak

An official of Canada’s Red Cross says the Ebola outbreak in east Africa is much larger than officially reported.

Canadian aid workers are on their way to Africa to try to help in what they describe as a desperate situation.

The World Health Organization says there are almost 600 suspected cases of the deadly ebola illness in this latest outbreak, with at least 139 suspected deaths in regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A Canadian manager with Doctors Without Borders describes overwhelming conditions, with an outbreak declared last week in the region where a team of doctors work.

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Even supplies of personal protective equipment couldn’t keep up.

“We have people showing up at the gates, saying ‘we have people in our family who are dying, for sure we have ebola, help us,’ no preparedness was ready for this,” said Trish Newport, the Deputy Manager of Doctors Without Borders Ebola programs.

“When you have 500 suspect cases, and so many deaths you never have enough body bags to do safe and dignified burials, and there’s not enough PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to safely respond to all of the situations. It’s extremely hectic.”

“As an ebola outbreak goes, this one is quite different from the previous ones,” said Chiran Livera, the senior operations manager of International Operations with the Canadian Red Cross. “There is no medical treatment and vaccine for this strain and testing capacity is quite limited.”

Livera says he’s hoping to reach the region in the next few days, with a team of Canadian public health and logistics experts already on the way.

READ MORE: One person in Ontario who recently travelled to East Africa tested for Ebola virus: ministry

“It’s a very difficult situation — what we’re seeing is people getting sick and people looking for treatment and assistance in a context of an area that doesn’t have a lot of health services to begin with,” said Livera. “So it’s a very dire situation.”

In Ontario, the provincial health ministry says one person who recently returned from east Africa is being tested for Ebola.

In Quebec, an Air France plane from Paris was diverted to Montreal Wednesday after being refused landing in the U.S., because one passenger recently travelled to east Africa.

The plane went on to Detroit without them and the passenger returned to France with no symptoms of Ebola.

READ MORE: Air France flight diverted to Montreal amid U.S. Ebola travel restrictions