The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday said Uganda has put the Ebola outbreak under control, noting that the last confirmed case was reported on June 21.
“Uganda is demonstrating that Ebola can be controlled. They are able to control the outbreak quickly, and the situation is totally under control at this stage,” Wessam Mankoula, operations manager for the Ebola response at Africa CDC, said on Thursday in an online briefing.
Mankoula credited Ugandan authorities with striking a responsible stance to the disease.
“The government has mounted a prompt and capable response to the outbreak of Ebola,” Mankoula said, highlighting that screening at the borders helped detect cases arriving from neighbouring DRC, and the country’s surveillance, testing and case management systems are doing excellent.
He also urged sustained international solidarity, as the death toll of the ongoing Bundibugyo ebola outbreak has surpassed 600 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
The two affected countries have recorded a cumulative 1,779 confirmed cases and 602 deaths, with a case fatality rate of about 34 percent, while some 302 patients have recovered from the disease so far, according to the latest data from the African Union’s continental public health agency.
Mankoula noted that the DRC recorded some 353 confirmed cases during the past week, which marked a 25 percent increase in the country’s caseload.
“We continue facing the fastest-growing ebola outbreak ever on the continent,” Mankoula said. “The outbreak is still growing and evolving. Unfortunately, the virus is still ahead of our response.”
Health experts noted critical gaps related to financing, inadequate safe burial capacity, and healthcare worker infections and deaths. Some 112 healthcare workers have been infected with the virus, and 35 have lost their lives so far in the DRC.
On a positive note, they highlighted commendable improvements, including progress in lab testing capacity, currently reaching more than 2,000 tests per day.
MG/as/APA