Ebola Death Toll Nears 4,900 as Africa CDC Warns of Response Gaps

H.E. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC Director -General.­

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases and claimed nearly 4,900 lives, as shortages of vaccines, medicines, health workers and funding hamper efforts to contain the disease.

The outbreak has also spread beyond the DRC, with confirmed cases reported in Kenya and Nigeria, while Uganda has ended its outbreak after recording earlier infections linked to the epidemic.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya said inadequate staffing, insufficient domestic financing and gaps in community engagement and disease surveillance were complicating the response.

“We don’t have sufficient human resources. This is a major gap. We don’t have vaccines and medicines. We don’t have appropriate funding coming from African countries to respond to that,” Kaseya said.

The DRC had reported 10,060 confirmed cases and 4,887 related deaths in figures covering data through October 25, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s update published on October 27.

Kenya had reported nine confirmed cases, including two deaths, by October 26, while Nigeria confirmed one case on October 20. The Nigerian patient was subsequently evacuated to Switzerland for medical care.

Kaseya said insecurity, humanitarian challenges and the movement of people linked to mining activities had made the outbreak more difficult to contain than previous epidemics.