CDC Allocates $107 Million in Emergency Funds to Combat Ebola in Congo and Uganda
Theo The Guardian, Jessica Glenza
The CDC is releasing $107 million in emergency funds to fight Ebola in the DRC and Uganda, where confirmed cases have neared 1,000. The outbreak is the third largest in history, but global risk remains low.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on June 18 that it will disburse $107 million from emergency funds to support the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
At a press briefing, Dr. Satish K. Pillai, the CDC's Ebola response lead, said there are now nearly 1,000 confirmed cases across 31 health zones in the DRC, along with 31 cases in Kampala, Uganda. The outbreak is now the third largest in history.
The CDC currently has 23 field staff supporting outbreak investigations and 125 personnel operating in the DRC and Uganda. Bi-weekly video conferences are held between the CDC and U.S. cities hosting the World Cup, a tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States that draws global visitors.
The disease is caused by the Bundibugyo virus (BVD), a rare Ebola strain, which began about a month ago along the western border of the DRC and eastern Uganda. The fatality rate for BVD in recent outbreaks in Congo and Uganda ranges from 30% to 50%.
African health officials warn that the outbreak could become the worst ever recorded and may take a year to control if the current infection rate does not slow. The worst Ebola outbreak on record saw more than 28,000 infections and 11,000 deaths from 2014 to 2016 in West Africa and eastern DRC. As of June 15, the CDC reported 837 confirmed cases in the DRC and 19 in Uganda, with a total of 198 deaths.
Although the risk within the DRC and Uganda is high, the global risk remains low because Ebola spreads through direct contact with blood, bodily fluids and contaminated surfaces, unlike airborne diseases such as COVID-19 or measles. Nevertheless, the United States is among 22 countries that have imposed travel restrictions on people arriving from the two nations, a move criticized as hampering the response effort.
Outbreak control efforts are also hindered by community mistrust and shortages of personal protective equipment and body transport vehicles. The CDC emergency funding adds to roughly $910 million already pledged to fight Ebola, but according to African health leaders, less than 10% of that sum has been disbursed by donors. Pillai stressed that CDC operations focus on controlling the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, while maintaining domestic readiness to handle any cases that may arise.
