The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says progress has been made in the Ebola response; however, challenges outpace response efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The head of the continental initiative for Maximising Student Development (IMSD) for the Ebola response, Wessam Mankoula, said this during a Thursday webinar on the Ebola outbreak.

Mr Mankoula said the continental incident management support team was now operational from Uganda, coordinating the Ebola response with support from partners across Africa.

He said there was progress in implementing a memorandum of understanding between DRC and Uganda to strengthen cross-border Ebola surveillance and response.

“Laboratory capacity has improved significantly, with health authorities now able to conduct more than 2,000 Ebola tests daily across affected areas.

“Clinical trials evaluating Ebola therapeutics have also begun, marking another milestone in efforts to improve treatment outcomes during the outbreak.

“Despite these gains, confirmed Ebola cases increased by 25 per cent over the past week, raising concerns about sustained transmission. Ebola treatment units remain under severe pressure, with bed occupancy reaching 95 per cent across affected facilities,” Mr Mankoula said.

According to him, contact tracing also remains inadequate, with only seven contacts identified for every confirmed Ebola case, far below the recommended target.

He said health workers continued to face high risks, with infections among frontline personnel remaining a major concern.

“The Africa CDC described Uganda’s response as encouraging; the country has demonstrated that Ebola can be controlled through strong surveillance and rapid action.

“Uganda has recorded 20 Ebola cases, most linked to imported infections, but authorities quickly contained transmission,” Mr Mankoula said.

He said the country currently has only one patient receiving treatment after recording two deaths and 17 recoveries from the outbreak.

According to him, health officials reported that Uganda has achieved complete contact tracing for all identified contacts, helping to interrupt further spread.

“Africa CDC said Uganda’s success shows that early detection, prompt isolation and effective contact tracing can bring Ebola under control.

“In contrast, the DRC had recorded 1,759 confirmed Ebola cases as of July 7, including 353 new cases reported within one week. The outbreak has claimed 600 lives, representing a case fatality rate of about 34 per cent.

“Among healthcare workers, 112 infections have been reported, while 35 frontline workers have died during the response,” he said.

He said the Africa CDC described the current epidemic as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded, surpassing previous outbreaks during the first six weeks.

According to him, the virus continues to outpace response efforts, with the effective reproductive number estimated at 1.4, indicating ongoing transmission.

“This means that the outbreak is still progressing. Currently, the estimated number is 1.4, which means for every 10 infected individuals, the virus is transmitted to approximately 14 new people. So the outbreak is still evolving,” Mr Mankoula said.

He said that the outbreak has affected 37 health zones in the DRC, with 94 per cent of confirmed cases reported from Ituri Province.

“Six affected health zones have not reported any confirmed cases during the past 21 days, offering signs of progress in some locations.

“Most infections have occurred among people aged 15 to 44 years, with women accounting for 53 per cent of confirmed cases.

“Security challenges in North Kivu continue to hinder response activities, contributing to high fatality rates and limiting access for emergency teams,” he said

He called for an immediate 50 per cent increase in treatment bed capacity, faster case detection, stronger community engagement and sustained funding to strengthen the Ebola response.

Mr Mankoula announced the deployment of additional experts and 4,000 community health workers while Uganda and the DRC continue implementing joint border surveillance under their bilateral agreement. 

(NAN)