Africa’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) late Wednesday announced that it would convene an “extraordinary virtual meeting” of national health officials as the continent’s latest Ebola outbreak continues to spread.
More than 9,500 people have been infected since the virus was first confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in May. Nearly half of those infected have died.
The Africa CDC announcement followed news on Tuesday that the virus had spread to Nigeria, arriving with a woman who had returned from Uganda earlier in the month.
Authorities in Nigeria say they are tracing 44 contact persons, with Health Minister Muhammad Pate noting that officials are, “doing everything possible to contain this case.”
Uganda, which recorded 20 cases in this latest outbreak and declared itself “Ebola-free” in July, has rejected Nigeria’s claims. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Uganda outbreak over on August 27.
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Virulent Ebola strain with no approved vaccines or treatments
This current outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which no approved vaccines or treatments exist. The strain was also matched to the patient in Nigeria.
“We did three levels of tests, but all molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” said Olajumoke Babatunde, director of the public health laboratory service at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya billed the October 28 crisis meeting as a chance to “strengthen our collective response.”
In all, the outbreak, which the WHO says is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever, has spread to four countries in Africa and is active in two of them.
One French national, a doctor doing humanitarian work in transmission zones inside Congo was infected but recovered after treatment at a specialized facility in France.
It has also spread wider than previous outbreaks, reaching central, eastern and western regions across Africa.
Africa CDC’s Kaseya made note of this in a post to X late Wednesday, writing: “Ebola is now affecting three regions of Africa. The situation demands urgent action and political leadership at the highest level.”
“We must now accelerate our actions, reinforce coordination and mobilize the full strength of our continent,” Kaseya’s post continued. “Africa has the expertise, the institutions and the capacity to defeat this outbreak. We must act together and we must act now.”
For its part, the WHO advised “all countries in the region to sustain a high level of readiness as the DRC outbreak continues to evolve.”
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