The International Organization for Migration today requested $18.5 million (€16.5 million) for medical assistance in eastern and southern Africa to try to contain the smallpox outbreak.
“The funds will be used for essential health services for migrants, displaced people and host communities at risk of infection in eastern and southern Africa,” UN Secretary-General's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference in New York.
The Director General of the International Organization for Migration, Amy Pope, has previously expressed her “deep concern” about the situation.
“IOM has called for urgent action to protect those most at risk and mitigate the impact of the outbreak, especially at border crossings,” Bob added.
According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 15,000 suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, with other cases confirmed in Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.
According to the World Health Organization, the total number of deaths from the virus currently stands at 537.
Smallpox has been affecting people in East Africa for more than a decade, but it was the rapid spread of the new strain of the virus that prompted the World Health Organization to declare an international public health emergency on August 14.
“The disease is transmitted from animals to humans and is spread through close contact with infected people or animals, through respiratory droplets, blood, body fluids or wounds,” the International Organization for Migration said.
Symptoms include fever, rash, headache, sore throat, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes.
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