DR Congo reports over 1,300 cases of Ebola and close to 400 related deaths. Some local governments have now banned large gatherings, but it is estimated that there may be as many as 20,000 untraced contacts of current Ebola patients, meaning there is still huge potential for the disease to continue to spread rapidly. Pray for people to take sensible precautions and for the disease to stop spreading.

Thank you to those who joined us to “connect and pray” at the online prayer event for Africa last weekend. Paediatrician Dr Nicci Maxwell joined us from Juba, South Sudan, where she works on the neonatal unit at Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital as well as in a local refugee camp. There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in South Sudan, but it has been predicted that there is a 70 per cent chance of Ebola coming to the country in the next three months. Nicci shared that Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital is unable to pay its staff and lacks medication, basic PPE and immunisations, and doesn’t have facilities to screen incoming patients or visitors. Pray for Al Sabbah and the many other hospitals around the country and across the region who are under-resourced and facing a potential epidemic.