Red Cross workers disinfect the ground outside the house of an unidentified man who died of Ebola in Ituri Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Sunday. GRADEL MUYISA MUMBERE/REUTERS
African leaders and health agencies are intensifying efforts to contain the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, with nearly $500 million pledged for the response as vaccine developers race to produce treatments tailored to the current strain amid rising infections and deaths.
Speaking during a virtual high-level ministerial briefing on Monday, Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said more than 900 suspected cases had been reported in the DR Congo, with over 100 confirmed cases recorded in DR Congo and Uganda, alongside more than 200 confirmed deaths in both countries.
He warned that the current outbreak had already surpassed the scale of previous Ebola outbreaks at the time it was officially declared.
"When the current outbreak was declared, we already had 236 suspected cases and 64 deaths, and despite the trend, we still don't have licensed vaccines or therapeutics," he said.
