Nearly 300 Ebola Patients Lost in DRC as Health Officials Warn of ‘Massive Community Spread’
Kat Lay (The Guardian)
Nearly 300 Ebola patients in the DRC are unaccounted for as a humanitarian crisis hampers health efforts. Officials warn of massive community spread, with projections of up to 8,200 cases and 1,500 deaths by September. A worst-case scenario estimates 66,000 infections.
Nearly 300 people who tested positive for the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are unaccounted for, according to a statement on June 27 by Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Speaking to reporters, Dr. Kaseya said a humanitarian crisis in conflict-affected areas has left more than a million people living in camps that health workers cannot reach, raising the risk of widespread community transmission.
Current data show the DRC has recorded 1,118 confirmed cases and 291 deaths. In neighboring Uganda, there have been 20 cases and 2 deaths. However, recovery and treatment figures indicate that 297 people who tested positive are no longer being monitored.
“This is a major concern. Where are these people?” Dr. Kaseya asked, noting that 30% of new infections involve contacts of known cases, indicating “very, very large community transmission.”
A forecasting model from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional office for Africa, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, projects around 8,210 cases and 1,420 deaths by mid-September. A worst-case scenario could see 66,000 cases. The model also shows a 70% risk the outbreak could spread to South Sudan in coming weeks.
The current outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, is the largest of its kind within five weeks of being declared. For comparison, at the same point in the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak, there were 239 cases and 160 deaths.
On June 27, the DRC government issued a notice requiring anyone who has been in affected provinces to wait 21 days before traveling elsewhere. Authorities plan to hire 20,000 community health workers from local areas to strengthen contact tracing.
Bed occupancy at Ebola treatment centers is at 95% and “we have not yet reached the peak of the epidemic,” Dr. Kaseya revealed. He added: “There are cases in the camps, and because we cannot access those camps, we cannot trace contacts. There is no full picture of what is happening. We cannot stop this outbreak without addressing the humanitarian problem.”
Earlier, Africa CDC and WHO said $518 million (around £392 million) is needed for health spending, with total needs reaching $1.4 billion when including humanitarian requirements. However, only about 13% of the $910 million pledged by governments and international organizations has been disbursed.
In a related development, on June 26, France confirmed that a doctor who had worked in the DRC tested positive for Ebola after returning home. The medical NGO Alima, where the doctor worked, said it is “investigating the possible route of infection.”
The first trial of drugs that could treat the Bundibugyo virus is expected to begin in the DRC next week, while a trial of an antiviral drug for contacts to prevent disease onset will start a week later.
