The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) issued a warning about growing operational difficulties hindering the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while highly commending Uganda's efforts in successfully containing the disease.
During an online press conference on Thursday evening, Africa CDC Director Jane Kaseya emphasized that the ongoing outbreak is 'the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history' and now ranks second in total confirmed cases. He stated that they are working to prevent it from becoming the largest Ebola outbreak.
According to Kaseya, he will join the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to visit Bunia, the capital of the Ituri province in eastern DRC, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, on August 2. The visit is planned to include meetings with local authorities, frontline healthcare workers, affected communities, and response partners.
Kaseya noted the need to strengthen capacity to prevent the outbreak from spreading to new areas and to improve early detection and adequate response. According to the latest data from Africa CDC and DRC health authorities, since the declaration of the 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15, the country has registered 3,442 confirmed cases and 1,521 deaths, corresponding to a fatality rate of over 44%. Currently, the outbreak affects 48 health zones across five provinces of the country.
The Africa CDC Director expressed concern over critical obstacles slowing down response efforts in the DRC. These include limited contact tracing capabilities, rising numbers of cases and deaths in communities, increasing fatality rates, and insufficient bed capacity. Furthermore, funding shortages, instability, unsafe burial practices, and cases of infection and death among healthcare workers have been cited as serious problems.
Despite the challenges, Africa CDC highlighted progress in several aspects of the response, including improved laboratory capabilities. Currently, 19 laboratories are actively conducting testing, significantly more than the two active labs at the initial stage, and the daily testing throughput exceeds 3,000 samples. The recent launch of clinical trials for therapeutics targeting the Bundibugyo strain is also considered a breakthrough, given the lack of licensed vaccines or targeted medical countermeasures for this Ebola variant.
Despite the worsening situation in the DRC, Kaseya acknowledged the decisive national leadership and effective response of Uganda, which allowed the transmission of the disease to be stopped after Uganda officially declared the end of the outbreak on Tuesday. The Ugandan Ministry of Health stated that successes in epidemiological investigations and the fully characterized nature of the outbreak provided sufficient scientific evidence to interrupt transmission.
Kaseya stressed that Uganda's success sends a clear signal: when political leadership, communities, and health sectors act together, outbreaks can be stopped. He added that the country's achievement reflects the dedication and commitment of healthcare workers, communities, local authorities, and partners who have tirelessly worked to identify, contain, and overcome this outbreak.
Meanwhile, Kaseya called on the United States to lift Ebola-related visa restrictions on Uganda, emphasizing the country's successful containment efforts. Africa CDC also appealed to Ugandan health authorities to maintain full vigilance and implement infection prevention measures, as well as to enhance public awareness and community surveillance, given that the outbreak is developing in DRC areas bordering Uganda.
In addition to the DRC and Uganda, 11 other countries on the continent were classified as high-risk zones: South Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, Central African Republic, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Somalia.
