Ebola: Africa CDC says outbreak still out of control in DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on SABC News
Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya says the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo remains out of control, with more than 11,200 cases and 5,500 deaths recorded. More than 80% of new cases are missing from contact lists, and attacks on health workers are slowing the response, according to Reuters.
Six months after it was declared, the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo remains out of control, according to Africa CDC, the continent’s public health agency. Its director-general, Jean Kaseya, said so on Sunday to Reuters, citing deadly attacks on health workers, unpaid salaries and a lack of resources. Since the outbreak was announced on 15 May, more than 11,200 infections and 5,500 deaths have been recorded, according to data from the Congolese government.
Jean Kaseya says more than 80% of new cases do not appear on contact lists, and that more than 65% of deaths occur in the community, outside health centres. The virus is most contagious in the advanced stages of the disease. Caused by the rare Bundibugyo species, the outbreak is the second-largest ever recorded, behind the West African outbreak of 2014-2016, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000.
Despite around $2.9 billion having been pledged, aid is still not reaching the worst-affected areas, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned this week, pointing to untrained staff, ambulances without fuel and the absence of surveillance teams. Mr Kaseya considers coordination between Kinshasa and donors still problematic, and calls for the release of the promised $1.6 billion, while avoiding duplication and waste. He acknowledges that some health workers have not been paid for months, and says the Congolese government is digitising payroll. 'We are not pointing fingers at anyone; it is a collective failure,' he said.
Health workers are paying a heavy toll: two young doctors died within 48 hours at the end of October, and then 67 health workers dead were recorded on 10 November. According to Africa CDC, the outbreak had already passed the 10,000-case mark on 29 October.
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