Ebola in the DRC: U.S. CDC Raises Its Alert to the Highest Level Amid a Concerning Outbreak
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has raised its response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to its highest internal alert level, Level 1. This decision reflects the maximum mobilization of the agency’s teams and resources to support response efforts in the face of an outbreak that continues to spread.
An Outbreak of Exceptional Scale
According to the latest report from the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), dated June 25, the DRC has recorded a total of 1,203 confirmed cases and 321 deaths. Three provinces are now affected. The CDC considers this outbreak to be the second largest ever recorded in the DRC and the third largest globally, stressing that the number of cases could continue to rise in the coming weeks.
An Alert Level That Concerns the CDC
Contrary to some interpretations, the move to Level 1 is not an alert intended for the general public. It is an internal procedure that allows the CDC to mobilize all of its personnel, beyond only the teams already involved in Ebola response. According to Dr. Satish Pillai, head of the Ebola response within the agency, this measure reflects the leadership’s determination to respond to the seriousness of the situation with all available means.
International Vigilance
The CDC also confirmed that a humanitarian worker infected in the DRC is currently being treated in France. However, no community transmission has been observed on French territory. The U.S. agency also maintains that the risk of importation and spread in the United States remains low.
Accelerating the Response
For the CDC, projections show that only rapid and sustained interventions will make it possible to prevent this outbreak from reaching the scale of the major West African outbreaks between 2014 and 2016, or the North Kivu outbreak between 2018 and 2020. The raising of the alert level is therefore primarily intended to strengthen coordination, the deployment of experts and support for Congolese health authorities in order to contain the spread of the virus.
Source: RFI, based on information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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