VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 9/12/07) - Dr. Bill Clemmer, a missionary based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is working with international agencies in an effort to confront an outbreak of the Ebola virus in that country. At least five deaths from the virus have been confirmed. Over 160 persons have died of the more than 350 people afflicted with what the World Health Organization had called a "mysterious disease," in a region of Southern Congo, according to published reports. Clemmer and his wife Ann serve in Congo through International Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA.
Clemmer said his wife and children are safe, and told International Ministries Tuesday that the U.S. Center for Disease Control (based in Atlanta, GA) has asked that SANRU, a faith-based health agency managed by Clemmer, partner with the CDC to confront the outbreak in the southern province of Kasai Occidental. Now that Ebola has been confirmed in at least five of seven blood samples sent to their labs, international organizations are responding with urgency. A team from the CDC is due in the nation's capital city of Kinshasa at the time of this writing.
SANRU -- which means "rural health" -- is co-managed by Interchurch Medical Assistance World Health, and The Church of Christ of Congo. International Ministries is a partner of Interchurch and the Church of Christ is the International Ministries partner through which Clemmer has served as head of SANRU since 2000.
Clemmer told International Ministries that CDC asked for SANRU's assistance because "the three epicenters [of the outbreak] are located around health districts we are involved with, [because of] our relationship with church structures that are co-managing the hospitals and health centers in the affected health districts, and our experience working in that particular area in the interior of Congo."
Clemmer was in Congo when an earlier outbreak of Ebola took place in 1995. Then, over 300 persons were reported sick and 250 people died.
Clemmer went to the affected region last week with members of the SANRU team at the request of the Health Minister of Congo to do a first-hand assessment of the epidemic and to deliver relief supplies. The team worked with nurses and doctors on site, and later brought back samples for the CDC labs in the West African country of Gabon and Atlanta for analysis. The samples have turned out positive for the Ebola virus. Clemmer will be returning to the epicenter with the Atlanta-based CDC team later this week in further efforts to contain the outbreak and bring relief to those affected.
Ebola -- known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever -- is a severe, often-fatal disease in humans that has appeared sporadically since its initial recognition in 1976, according to the CDC. The disease is caused by infection with Ebola virus, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it was first recognized.
Clemmer asks that American Baptists and other supporters of this ministry pray for those infected by this virus, for which there is no cure, and the families of those who have died already. You can learn more by regularly checking the International Ministries website, or give support online (Africa, William & Ann Clemmer). Donations may also be sent to International Ministries at P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA (Attn: Donation).
"Above all," Clemmer asks, "we remember that God is in control. He will give us the means and the courage to confront the problems of the world; those he allows us to bear, all because of his namesake."
Formed in 1814, International Ministries is the oldest Baptist mission agency in North America. The organization serves the more than 5,800 churches of the American Baptist Churches USA. Globally, International Ministries partners with more than 500 educational institutions and 125 hospitals and medical facilities. More than 1,800 volunteer, short-term and career missionaries work together with some 15,000 trained national workers, who serve about 22,000 congregations and nearly 3,000,000 baptized members.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/