The latest Ebola figures from the Democratic Republic of Congo appear to offer some hope after the number of cases was dramatically scaled back. At one point the authorities were talking of more than 1,000 suspected cases and nearly 250 suspected deaths. They are now reporting around 380 confirmed cases in DR Congo, including 60 deaths, plus another 15 confirmed cases and one death in neighbouring Uganda.
However, the key difference is that the authorities are now talking about confirmed, rather than suspected, cases as before. So it would be a mistake to assume that the fall in numbers means the outbreak is suddenly less dangerous. The decline reflects better data, as laboratories were able to rule out many patients who had fever but were suffering from other conditions such as malaria which is common in DR Congo.
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the outbreak had a “big head start” but response teams are now “catching up”. However, one of the biggest concerns remains contact tracing. Only about 45% of people in direct contact with an Ebola patient are currently being followed up, partly because the epicentre of the latest outbreak is in an area hit by conflict.
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The WHO says at least 90% of contacts must be traced to bring an outbreak under control. Another challenge is mistrust among some communities. An Ebola burial team was reportedly attacked this week in South Kivu province, forcing responders to abandon a coffin and raising fears of further transmission.
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