International
US optimistic over Ebola outbreak in DRC
The United States of America is of the belief that the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo following an outbreak can be controlled.
According to Pierre Rollins a leading Ebola expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who has studied Ebola for three decades, the disease can be brought under control.
Pierre said the haemorrhagic fever’s outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo which is believed to have killed 144 people since July and infected another 79, can be contained within a month or two, as authorities expand their tracing of new patients’ contacts.
Read also: DRC’s Ebola outbreak may worsen, WHO warns
“We compared the evolution of this epidemic to other epidemics to see if the increase had been more rapid, and there was no difference,” Rollins said in an interview.
“What happened in the last week is that the health ministry has decided … to research the cases more actively because they would see cases arrive that had no link to patients already treated or registered as known contacts.”
Pierre’s comments are coming four days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) following an emergency committee meeting of experts convened by the body said on that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC may worsen unless the response to its spread is stepped-up.
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