The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains serious despite a recent decline in infections, Africa’s top public health agency said on Thursday, warning that transmission has not yet been brought consistently under control.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya said available data showed some improvement in affected areas but continued to point to gaps in infection prevention and control.
The assessment comes days after Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said there were “encouraging signs” in the response to the outbreak, with transmission gradually slowing since what he described as a peak in mid-August.
Africa CDC data showed a slight fall in cases during the previous two weeks, including a decline in infections in eastern Ituri province.
However, the agency’s Emergency Consultative Group said the available figures were not sufficient to confirm that the outbreak had reached its peak.
“The transmission is not yet consistently controlled across all affected areas,” the group said.
Kaseya said Congolese health authorities had based their more optimistic assessment on incomplete data and stressed that a sustained decline in infections would be needed before the outbreak could be considered to have peaked.
“We saw a decrease in some areas, but we say the situation is still serious,” Kaseya told reporters.
He nevertheless praised progress made by Congolese authorities and said Africa CDC remained committed to supporting the government’s response.
Ebola is a severe viral disease that can spread through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of infected people. Rapid detection, isolation of cases, contact tracing and strict infection-control measures are central to containing outbreaks.
