Africa CDC Head Says Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo Is Serious but Contained

The head of the Africa CDC said the Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo is serious but not out of control. He added that the response is massive and that it remains unclear whether the outbreak has reached its peak. Transmission continues in displacement camps that response teams cannot reach. The Africa CDC chief warned that no one is safe if the virus is not stopped at the source.

He said an outbreak in the West would already have prompted development of a vaccine and treatment. "They didn't because they were not interested. It's for Africans," he said. Almost all Western countries are now cutting aid to the continent, he noted, though he said he was not begging for assistance.

The cost of stopping the outbreak now is lower than the price Western states would pay fighting it later, he argued.

A French doctor who had worked in Ituri province returned home infected this week. The Africa CDC chief warned that the virus would not wait for other countries to be infected. He predicted a vaccine within months, at the latest by the end of this year.