The Ebola virus has claimed the lives of more than 200 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nearly a month after its outbreak, according to a health authority of the African Union on Thursday.
The Africa CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa) reported that out of 875 confirmed cases, 202 individuals have died, bringing the fatality rate to 23%.
Wisam Mankoula, an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "What worries us is the situation with contact tracing."
He added, "Due to security challenges and the difficulty in accessing some areas for our response teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and other partners (...) we are still observing weaknesses in our contact tracing efforts."
This week, the Red Cross warned that the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, announced on May 15, has not yet peaked and may take a full year to contain.
Addressing the 17th outbreak of the virus in this vast Central African country presents significant challenges, as there are no vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain, which is behind the current outbreak.
Three affected provinces in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo—Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu—are dealing with armed conflicts and mass displacements, complicating response efforts.
The deadly hemorrhagic fever outbreak has also spread to neighboring Uganda, although containment measures there have been effective, with 19 cases and two deaths recorded, most of whom were Congolese travelers.
