The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned of a growing risk of regional spread after Ebola outbreaks were declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, prompting coordinated continental action and discussions on declaring a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security.
The alert carries urgency as the affected Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is marked by high population mobility, insecurity and intense cross-border movement with neighbouring countries, including Uganda. Africa CDC said the situation posed a threat to regional health security and required stronger surveillance, preparedness and outbreak response measures across the region.
Following the outbreak declarations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, Africa CDC activated its regional coordination mechanism, which comes into effect when an outbreak affects more than one member state. The agency said it was also supporting South Sudan in strengthening preparedness against possible spillover infections.
Africa CDC convened a high-level consultative meeting with more than 130 participants from affected and at-risk countries, donor partners, United Nations agencies, humanitarian organisations, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders. The meeting recommended the immediate activation of a continental Incident Management Support Team to coordinate surveillance, laboratory systems, case management, infection prevention and control, logistics, cross-border collaboration and rapid response operations.
Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said consultations were underway with African Union and World Health Organization leadership on the evolving outbreak situation and the possible declaration of a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security under Article 12 of the Africa CDC Statute. The agency said Prof Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Africa CDC Emergency Consultative Group, had been asked to urgently convene experts to assess the outbreak risk and provide technical guidance.
Africa CDC said it remained committed to working with member states and international partners to contain the outbreak and strengthen Africa’s health security systems.
Health – Med Herald
