Dr. Khan serves on GOARN steering committee for WHO

Burundi no holiday for Dr. Kortepeter

Mark Kortepeter, M.D., professor of epidemiology, College of Public Health, deployed to Bujumbura, Burundi Dec. 6 for a six-week mission as part of the effort to improve preparedness in countries surrounding the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has an active outbreak of Ebola virus.

His deployment is at the request of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), of which UNMC is a member.

Dr. Kortepeter, who has a background in infectious diseases, viral hemorrhagic fevers, tropical and travel medicine, public health and biocontainment, is well-prepared through his current work in the college and with the National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC) at UNMC.

Late last year, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine sent a team of infectious diseases experts to Uganda in response to the Ebola outbreak. Medical Teams International, which provides support for refugees fleeing violence in the DRC into Western Uganda, requested the help.

He will serve as the lead for the development of infection, prevention and control (IPC) core components for preparedness, response and recovery for outbreaks and health emergencies. He also will provide technical guidance to ensure alignment with WHO-recommended IPC standards for the Ministry of Health and partners to prevent the spread of severe emerging infectious diseases.

"I am honored to be selected by WHO for this activity," Dr. Kortepeter said. "I am looking forward to working with partners on the ground to understand their capabilities and needs, and to see how I might assist them."

In August, an Ebola outbreak was declared in the DRC, which is along the eastern border of Burundi. It is the 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since 1976. With more than 240 deaths and 420 cases thus far, this outbreak is the second largest on record. The 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak killed more than 11,000.

Until now, Ebola has never emerged in an active war zone. The virus started in cities in North Kivu, an unstable province in the Central African country, where fighting among multiple rebel and militia groups has repeatedly interrupted the health care response.

North Kivu is close to numerous international borders -- Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan -- and its population is constantly on the move with one million displaced people out of six million residents. It's also a population that's highly traumatized, especially in and around Beni, the outbreak epicenter. People have been subject to an enormous number of severe attacks consistently since 2014 but dating back to even the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

To complicate things further, Burundi has been experiencing civil unrest since the July 2015 election. It is estimated that 600,000 people have been displaced by the violence and 427,800 have fled into Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and the DRC.