The whereabouts of nearly 300 people who tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remain unknown, according to Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Speaking on Thursday, he expressed concern that these individuals could be spreading the virus undetected.
Dr. Kaseya highlighted that the humanitarian crisis in conflict-affected areas has left over 1 million people living in camps inaccessible to health workers. "These camps have cases, and because we don't have access, we cannot conduct contact tracing or get a picture of what's happening," he said, stressing that the outbreak cannot be stopped without resolving the humanitarian issues.
Projections from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, predict approximately 8,210 cases and 1,420 deaths by mid-September. The modeling also indicates a 70% chance of the outbreak spreading to neighboring South Sudan in the coming weeks.
To date, the DRC has reported 1,118 confirmed cases and 291 deaths, while Uganda has 20 cases and 2 deaths. On Wednesday, France announced that a doctor returning from the DRC tested positive for the virus. His employer, medical NGO Alima, is investigating how the contamination occurred.
The DRC authorities announced Thursday that anyone who had been in affected provinces must wait 21 days before traveling. To boost contact tracing, authorities plan to recruit 20,000 community health workers from local areas. Bed occupancy in Ebola treatment centers is at 95%, and "we haven't reached the peak yet," Kaseya added.
Africa CDC and the WHO earlier estimated that $518 million in health spending is needed to tackle the outbreak. When humanitarian needs are included, the total rises to $1.4 billion. However, only about 13% of the $910 million pledged by international governments and organizations has been delivered so far.
The first trial of drugs potentially effective against the Bundibugyo virus is set to begin in the DRC next week, followed by a trial of an antiviral given to contacts to prevent disease development a week later.
Source: www.theguardian.com