JOHANNESBERG, June 26 – The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says the amount needed to respond to the ongoing Ebola outbreak has increased to $1.4 billion, almost three times its earlier estimate of $518 million.
Speaking during the agency’s weekly news briefing on Thursday, Director General Jean Kaseya said the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province is making it harder to bring the outbreak under control.
Ituri remains the centre of the outbreak, and Kaseya warned that the situation on the ground is affecting response efforts.
“If we don’t have this $1.4 billion and if we don’t resolve the humanitarian issue, we will not stop this outbreak,” he said.
The outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. More than 1,000 people have been infected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while another 20 cases have been recorded in neighbouring Uganda.
According to Africa CDC, the outbreak has reached the highest number of infections recorded in the first month of any Ebola episode involving the disease.
The agency says increased funding will be needed to strengthen the public health response and address the humanitarian challenges that continue to complicate efforts to contain the virus.
