Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC, warns that the „unprecedented” scale of the Ebola outbreak in Africa means the virus could reach the UK and other countries. No case has been confirmed outside Africa so far.
Kaseya’s warning was reported on 28 October by The Guardian. The Director General of Africa CDC said no country is safe if it does not take appropriate action. According to the quoted remarks, every country, not only African ones, should raise its level of preparedness and treatment capacity (quotes via Nairobi News).
Scale of the outbreak
As reported by the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday, 27 October, 10,060 people have been infected since the virus was detected in May, and 4,887 have died; 2,684 have recovered (data via Korea Times). The Congolese National Institute of Public Health estimates the fatality rate at nearly 50 percent. The outbreak was declared in the DRC on 15 May, and the WHO declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May (allAfrica, citing RFI).
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. According to the US CDC, it is the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history. The outbreak began in Ituri Province; according to Kaseya, it has spread to eight provinces and more than 66 health zones.
Three regions of Africa
Kaseya stressed that for the first time Ebola has affected three regions of Africa, and the geographic spread is „unprecedented”. Cases have also been recorded in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Kenya has reported nine cases and two deaths, all linked to a single case imported from the DRC. Uganda was declared free of Ebola at the end of August after 20 cases and two deaths. In Nigeria, the first case in more than a decade has been confirmed; according to Kaseya, the woman was diagnosed 16 days after arriving, and the WHO was monitoring 44 contacts.
Funding and preparedness
The head of Africa CDC warned that a shortage of funds undermines the fight against the outbreak and raises its cost. According to him, governments have pledged around $3 billion, but more than $2 billion has yet to arrive. Violence and a lack of trust in health services also hamper the response. In July, Kaseya said that more than 80 percent of new cases in Ituri were not linked to known patients (CIDRAP).
According to The Guardian, Kaseya warns that, without funding, the disease could spread in a way similar to Covid-19. As of publication, no cases had been reported in the UK or Europe.
What it means
For readers in Poland, this is for now a warning rather than a threat: there are no confirmed cases in Europe. People planning travel to the DRC, Kenya or Nigeria should follow updates from the WHO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS). Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick people, not through droplets like Covid-19, so Kaseya’s comparison concerns the scale rather than the mechanism.
