Confirmed Ebola cases have crossed 11,000, with more than 5,400 deaths reported six months after the start of the Bundibugyo outbreak, as Africa CDC warns that security concerns and gaps in disease surveillance are hampering containment efforts…reports Asian Lite News Desk
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) described the outbreak as a major test of health security across the continent during an online media briefing.
Wessam Mankoula, an Africa CDC official, said that although progress had been made, significant challenges remained, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the outbreak.
According to the latest Africa CDC data, the multi-country outbreak has recorded 11,145 confirmed cases and 5,437 deaths, representing a fatality rate of 48.8 per cent. A total of 3,058 patients have recovered.
Mankoula identified rising community infections and deaths, insecurity and infections among healthcare workers as major obstacles to the response in the DRC, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Only around 11 per cent of new cases have been linked to known contacts, significantly below the standard target of 95 per cent. The official said weaknesses in contact listing and tracing, compounded by insecurity, were creating serious operational difficulties.
Africa CDC warned that the outbreak was placing additional pressure on the DRC’s already overstretched health system, which is also dealing with conflict, displacement and other disease emergencies.
However, the agency highlighted progress in containing the outbreak in Kenya and Nigeria.
Kenya, which reported its first imported case on October 6, has recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths. No new cases have been reported since October 19.
On Wednesday, Kenyan health authorities announced that the country’s last Ebola patient had been discharged. The final 11 contacts also completed their mandatory 21-day monitoring period and were released in good health.
Nigeria has also made progress in its response. Of the 62 contacts identified, 59 have completed monitoring and been discharged, while the remaining three are undergoing the mandatory observation period.
Apart from the four affected African countries, 10 other nations have been designated as high-risk: South Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Somalia.
Africa CDC declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security on May 18. The World Health Organisation declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern a day earlier.
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