Confirmed Ebola cases in central Africa have risen to nearly 500, the World Health Organisation said on Saturday, as concerns grow that the outbreak could become one of the largest in history.
In its latest update, the WHO reported 452 confirmed cases, including 82 deaths, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was declared three weeks ago.
In neighbouring Uganda, 19 confirmed cases and two deaths have been recorded. The combined total of 471 confirmed cases and 84 deaths marks an increase of 100 cases and 20 deaths from the previous day, based on figures provided by the two governments.
The WHO has declared the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a public health emergency of international concern.
Health officials have warned that, without stronger intervention measures, the outbreak could expand significantly. Jason Asher, director of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, said on Friday that modelling suggested the epidemic could approach the scale of the 2014 West Africa outbreak if left unchecked. “That scale is possible,” Asher told reporters.
The 2014 outbreak in West Africa infected more than 28,000 people and killed over 11,000, making it the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record. The current outbreak was officially declared on May 15 in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, although health authorities believe the virus had been spreading undetected before then.
There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak.
On Friday, the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention launched a $518 million response plan aimed at containing the outbreak over the next six months.
The programme will focus on surveillance, laboratory testing, infection prevention and preparedness in neighbouring countries.”The outbreak is moving fast, and we are still playing catch-up, we need to stop the outbreak where it is, support countries that are responding today, and ensure that neighbouring countries are ready to detect and act quickly if cases appear, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The UN Chief said there was a need to move fast and stop the outbreak fast.