ADDIS ABABA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda is spreading rapidly, with more than 900 suspected cases and over 200 suspected deaths, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday.
Addressing a high-level virtual ministerial meeting, Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said that since the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15, a total of 906 suspected cases and 204 probable deaths have been recorded.
A total of 106 cases have been laboratory-confirmed across the two affected countries, including five in Uganda, all linked to imported cases from the DRC, he said. "The numbers are changing on a daily basis. This is too much. We cannot afford to have more Africans dying, and we are still at the peak of this outbreak."
According to the Africa CDC chief, in addition to the two affected countries, 11 others across the continent are now at high risk, namely South Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Somalia.
Kaseya highlighted major operational challenges, including a four-week detection gap of silent transmission before official confirmation, a lack of available medical countermeasures, high population mobility, weak health infrastructure, insecurity, and limited access, as well as misinformation and mistrust.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned over the rapid spread of the outbreak, citing the WHO's decision on Friday to upgrade its risk assessment from high to very high at the national level in the DRC.
"The outbreak is spreading rapidly. So far, 101 cases have been confirmed in the DRC with 10 confirmed deaths, but we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger," Tedros told the meeting.
The Ebola virus is highly contagious and can cause symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise, and in severe cases, internal and external bleeding. According to the WHO, Ebola fatality rates vary depending on the viral subtype. ■
