KINSHASA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) shows early signs of slowing, but new hotspots are complicating response efforts, authorities said Wednesday.
"For the past two weeks, we have seen the curve starting to decline," said Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), at a press briefing in Kinshasa.
The outbreak's epicenter was gradually shifting from Ituri Province, where the epidemic is believed to have first emerged in the country's east, toward neighboring North Kivu Province, Kaseya noted.
Despite the encouraging trend, Kaseya stressed that significant gaps remain in disease surveillance and contact tracing, hampering efforts to break chains of transmission.
International pledges to support the Ebola response have reached 3.045 billion U.S. dollars, up from 1.656 billion dollars in June, figures presented by Kaseya showed. However, only 962.66 million dollars, or 31.6 percent of the total pledged, has been disbursed.
Kaseya also called for greater transparency in the use of the funds.
Declared on May 15, the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, is the deadliest ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest Ebola outbreak worldwide, after the epidemic that struck West Africa between 2014 and 2016.
According to the latest epidemiological report released Wednesday by Congolese health authorities, the DRC had recorded 9,144 confirmed cases, including 4,410 deaths, as of Oct. 12, representing a case fatality rate of 48.2 percent. ■
