KINSHASA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Available data do not confirm that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached its peak, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
"The data that we have cannot confirm that the peak of the outbreak has been reached," Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told an online press briefing on Thursday. "The transmission is not yet consistently controlled."
As of Tuesday, the country had reported 7,404 confirmed cases, including 3,577 deaths, with an overall case fatality rate of 48.3 percent. A total of 1,776 patients have recovered, according to the latest situation report by the DRC government.
Despite a slight decline observed in Ituri, the long-time epicenter of the outbreak, Kaseya said the overall situation does not yet amount to a sustained national decline, warning that previous decreases had been followed by renewed increases.
Kaseya said transmission must show a sustained decline, and that any decline must be supported by "complete and comparable" data at provincial, health-zone and health-area levels.
Authorities must also demonstrate effective control of transmission chains, reliable contact tracing, rapid detection of cases and community deaths, and no further geographic expansion, he said, also calling for increased response capacity in the neighboring North Kivu Province, where treatment facilities are under mounting pressure.
Africa CDC data showed 316 patients were being cared for against 220 available beds in the province, putting bed occupancy at 143.6 percent. According to the latest government situation report, 42.1 percent of hospitalized patients in the province were being treated outside facilities meeting required standards.
Kaseya also pointed to significant gaps in contact tracing, saying only about 32,000 people were currently listed as contacts, representing roughly 27 percent of the estimated number that should be under follow-up.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that the response was beginning to show encouraging signs in some of the worst-affected areas, particularly Ituri.
The current outbreak has become the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC's history and the second-largest globally, after the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa. ■