Overview
- The DRC government reported late Monday that confirmed Ebola infections have reached 1,307 with 377 deaths, concentrated in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu and linked in media reports to a case detected in Haut-Uele.
- Health officials say the outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment, and cases have also been confirmed in Uganda and once in a doctor returned to France.
- President Félix Tshisekedi announced a $319 million national response plan and the interior ministry banned public gatherings in Kinshasa, Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele to try to curb spread.
- Response efforts are strained by testing backlogs, low contact tracing, dozens of infected health workers and attacks on burial and treatment teams that hamper detection and containment.
- The UNDP warned the outbreak could cost Africa up to $3.6 billion and more than 300,000 jobs in a worst case, and opposition leaders say the gathering ban is politically motivated ahead of a July 8 protest.