Africa CDC warns Ebola outbreak not ‘under control’

An Ebola outbreak in DR Congo was far from being “under control”, Africa’s top health body said Thursday, a day after the WHO said it was gaining ground against the virus.

The outbreak, which began in the conflict-scarred northeastern province of Ituri, has seen more than 3,500 deaths from over 7,200 cases to date across seven northern and eastern provinces.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director general Jean Kaseya acknowledged there had been a “plateau” in cases, adding they were seeing “a slight decrease”.

“And no one can come and say the outbreak is under control. No one,” he said.

Kaseya’s remarks follow the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who on Wednesday said: “We are starting to see encouraging signs that we’re gaining ground.”

On Saturday, the Democratic Republic of Congo government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on X that “the peak was reached” in the third week of August.

Kaseya said “some of the comments that were made were based on incomplete data”.

The African Union places the current figures at 7,404 cases, with 3,577 cumulative deaths.

Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding and organ failure, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the last 50 years.

There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment against the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current outbreak.

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