The head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has raised the alarm about the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, warning that the situation could turn into the worst outbreak ever recorded.
The Director-General of the Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, stated during a virtual meeting of African leaders in Burundi that currently tens of thousands of people who have had contact with the infected have not yet been traced by health authorities.
“If we don’t stop this outbreak very soon, the situation could be worse than what we experienced in West Africa and eastern DR Congo,” Kaseya said.
He was referring to the Ebola epidemic that struck Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016, killing more than 11,000 people. Another major outbreak was recorded in 2018 in eastern Congo.
Health authorities are facing great difficulties in identifying and monitoring people who have been in contact with the sick, increasing the risk of further spread of the virus.
Experts are calling for urgent intervention and international support to curb the situation before it turns into a new health crisis on the African continent.