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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned Saturday that 10 African countries are at risk of Ebola virus disease following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC, said Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Zambia face risk amid the spread of the disease.
He made the remarks during a virtual briefing on the continent’s health situation as the Ebola epidemic continues.
With the exception of Ethiopia, all countries listed as at risk border either DR Congo or Uganda, where Ebola cases have been recorded.
Africa CDC and the World Health Organization announced a funding appeal for more than $314 million to finance response measures.
Most of the budget is intended for DR Congo and Uganda for treatment, surveillance and prevention efforts.
The 10 high-risk countries would share $54 million under the appeal.
Planned interventions include setting up national incident management systems, strengthening cross-border coordination in regional countries, accelerating research on vaccines specific to the Bundibugyo strain, deploying additional teams and pre-positioning emergency supplies before transmission accelerates.
DR Congo has seen a rise in Ebola cases since an outbreak was declared May 15 in Ituri province.
The disease has since spread to North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Around 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been reported, according to the WHO.
At least 82 cases and seven deaths have been confirmed in DR Congo.
Uganda’s Health Ministry announced three new cases Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to five since the current outbreak began.
Congolese authorities have suspended social activities in Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak, including sports events, in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading.
Gen. Johnny Luboya, the military governor, also banned gatherings of more than 50 people across Bunia, Rwampara, Mungwalu and Nyakunde health zones, which have been affected by rising Ebola cases.
The WHO has raised the alert level to “very high.”
Several neighboring countries have intensified preventive measures to stop the virus from spreading, including restrictions on travel from DR Congo.
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