Ebola outbreak: five big questions — SkimNews
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- DRC's Ebola outbreak has reached almost 5,000 cases and 2,000 deaths since May 15, making it the country's largest and deadliest on record according to Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya, who warned it is on course to become the largest in the world
- Contact tracing is reaching only 12% of contacts against a 95% target, and 850 people who tested positive remain unaccounted for as of August 15 — a high risk for onward transmission, per Africa CDC and WHO figures
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said only $264m of the $518m needed for the direct health response has been disbursed, while nurses and safe-burial teams have gone on strike over unpaid wages in Ituri
- Uganda declared its own imported outbreak over after just 20 cases and two deaths, but in DRC's Ituri and North Kivu provinces — where armed conflict has displaced tens of thousands — officials cannot identify enough contacts to control transmission
- Two vaccines designed specifically for the rarer Bundibugyo strain have entered safety trials, and existing Ervebo may offer enough cross-protection to cut death rates even if it does not prevent infection; testing is now available in Ituri labs rather than requiring Kinshasa sample shipment
- The case-fatality rate stood at 47% as of August 15, reflecting late presentation; WHO officials hope a new door-to-door village outreach approach — replacing contact-based surveillance — will reverse spread within three months
Why it matters: With contact tracing at 12%, 850 unaccounted positive cases, only half the pledged $518m actually disbursed, and health workers striking over pay, the DRC outbreak has the trajectory to surpass the 2014–2016 west Africa Ebola crisis that killed more than 11,000 people — and the village-by-village pivot will require more staff and cash than the failing system it replaces.
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