Key points
- Africa CDC says Ebola outbreak recorded 89 deaths in one week
- Treatment centres are operating at 95% bed occupancy
- Five health zones in eastern DR Congo account for more than 85% of cases
- Only 30% of new confirmed cases are linked to known contacts
- Uganda has recorded 19 cases, including infections linked to travellers from DR Congo
- Africa CDC plans to deploy 20,000 youths to strengthen contact tracing
- Funding remains a major challenge, with only 13% of pledged response funds released
- Vaccine trials and new treatment programmes are expected to begin soon
Main story
The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, has warned that the worsening Ebola outbreak recorded 89 deaths in one week, raising concerns over treatment capacity and growing community transmission.
Speaking during an online media briefing on Thursday, Kaseya said treatment centres were already operating at 95 per cent bed occupancy, creating pressure on health authorities to expand capacity while improving early case detection. He said Bunia, Gwampara, Mugwalu and Nyankunde remained the main outbreak hotspots, while Katwa, Benin and Butimbo in North Kivu were also recording active cases. According to him, five health zones in Ituri Province and one in North Kivu account for more than 85 per cent of reported infections, making targeted interventions essential to containing the outbreak.
Kaseya said Uganda had recorded 19 Ebola cases in total, including one new case reported last week. He added that five infections involved local contacts of travellers arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He said Uganda had previously monitored about 800 contacts linked to the cases and had discharged most of them, leaving only nine active contacts under full surveillance. The Africa CDC chief expressed concern over contact-tracing performance, noting that although about 8,000 contacts had been identified, projections suggested the actual figure could reach 40,000.
He said only 77 per cent of identified contacts were being monitored daily, below the target of 95 per cent. Kaseya added that just 30 per cent of newly confirmed cases originated from known contacts, while 70 per cent emerged from community transmission, highlighting gaps in surveillance and outbreak control. To strengthen response efforts, Africa CDC plans to deploy 20,000 local youths as community response teams to help identify cases and trace contacts.
He warned that after 35 days, the current outbreak had grown 3.6 times larger than comparable Ebola outbreaks in Uganda and West Africa during the early stages of the 2014 epidemic. Kaseya also revealed that a health worker who had worked in Ituri later tested positive for Ebola after travelling to France, prompting intensified cooperation between African and European health authorities.
He said the DRC government had introduced a requirement for travellers flying from Ituri to Kinshasa to remain in the capital for 21 days before undertaking further travel in a bid to reduce cross-border transmission risks. The Africa CDC chief said the approved outbreak response plan initially required 518 million dollars, with donor pledges reaching 910 million dollars. However, only 13 per cent of the pledged funds had so far been released.
He added that humanitarian needs had increased total funding requirements to about 1.4 billion dollars. Kaseya said the DRC had already received one antiviral treatment, while another therapeutic known as MDP-134 was expected to arrive shortly. Clinical trials involving post-exposure treatment were also expected to begin next week in Bunia.
He disclosed that four vaccine candidates were currently under consideration and that Phase 1 trials would begin soon, with hopes of making at least one vaccine available before the end of the year. Africa CDC has also supplied 52 diagnostic machines and 130,000 testing cartridges to support laboratory operations, with plans to deploy additional equipment across the DRC, Uganda and other countries considered at risk.
The issues
- Rapid growth in Ebola infections and deaths
- Rising pressure on treatment centres and healthcare workers
- High levels of community transmission
- Weak contact tracing and surveillance coverage
- Risk of cross-border spread to neighbouring countries
- Funding shortfalls despite large donor commitments
- Need for faster deployment of treatments and vaccines
What’s Being Said
“Authorities must build more treatment capacity while detecting cases sooner. Early detection prevents patients from needing hospital admission.” — Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa CDC
“Just 30 per cent of new confirmed cases come from known contacts. That means 70 per cent originate from community spread, a critical concern.” — Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa CDC
“After 35 days, the outbreak had already grown 3.6 times larger than comparable outbreaks in Uganda and West Africa in 2014.” — Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa CDC
“Only 13 per cent has been released as actual funding.” — Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa CDC
What’s next
- Africa CDC will deploy 20,000 community response volunteers to strengthen contact tracing
- Clinical trials for Ebola treatments are expected to begin next week in Bunia
- Phase 1 trials for four vaccine candidates will commence shortly
- Additional diagnostic equipment will be deployed across the DRC, Uganda and other at-risk countries
- Health authorities will continue monitoring hotspots and publishing weekly outbreak updates
Bottom line
Africa CDC is warning that the Ebola outbreak is expanding rapidly, with deaths rising, treatment centres nearing capacity and most new infections originating from community transmission. Health authorities are racing to expand treatment capacity, improve surveillance and launch vaccine and treatment trials, but funding gaps remain a major concern.
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