DRC Ebola Outbreak Reaches 300 Confirmed, Suspected Cases; CDC Director Says Entrenchment Of Virus Possible Without Adequate Control

CIDRAP News: Ebola total reaches 300 as WHO, U.N. leaders travel to DRC
“Over the weekend and [Monday], 13 more cases and five more deaths from Ebola were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) three-month long outbreak of the virus in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. … [On Monday,] leaders from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (U.N.) arrived in DRC to check in with outbreak response efforts…” (Soucheray, 11/5).

Washington Post: CDC director warns that Congo’s Ebola outbreak may not be containable
“Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said Monday that the Ebola outbreak in conflict-ridden Congo has become so serious that international public health experts need to consider the possibility that it cannot be brought under control and instead will become entrenched. … If Ebola becomes endemic in substantial areas of North Kivu province, in northeastern Congo, ‘this will mean that we’ve lost the ability to trace contacts, stop transmission chains, and contain the outbreak,’ said Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, which hosted the briefing on Capitol Hill that featured the Ebola discussion with Redfield…” (Sun, 10/5).

Xinhua News: Uganda’s Ebola vaccination for high-risk health workers postponed to Wednesday
“Uganda on Monday said Ebola vaccinations for frontline health workers in high-risk districts bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been postponed to Wednesday due to training of vaccination staff…” (11/5).

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