Hundreds of Ebola patients missing: Fears of the virus spreading uncontrollably across Africa
Ahmed Salem
The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed more than 1,100 cases of Ebola since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, with at least 291 people killed.
The outbreak has been largely confined to the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Uganda has recorded 20 cases and two deaths. Last week, France announced that a doctor who had recently returned from Congo had tested positive for Ebola.
According to the Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, Dr. Jean Kassia, the fate of nearly 300 people who tested positive for the Ebola virus remains unknown.
He said that not knowing the whereabouts of patients raises serious concerns about gaps in tracking and the uncontrolled spread of the deadly virus.
Expectations of an increase in infections
But new WHO projections predict more than 8,000 cases and 1,400 deaths by mid-September, with a 70% probability of the disease spreading to neighboring South Sudan.
The World Health Organization confirmed that the efforts made by the Congolese authorities and the authorities of neighboring countries are contributing to limiting the spread of the virus, but in the worst-case scenario, the number of infections could exceed 60,000 cases by September.
Ebola outbreak
The current outbreak—the seventeenth to hit the Democratic Republic of Congo—is the worst on record. More than one million people in the affected areas are inaccessible to health workers due to the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo.
