Ebola outbreak: 10 African countries at risk; US extends travel ban to Green Card holders — 10 points

THE Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Saturday, saying that 10 African countries are at risk of being affected by the Ebola virus, in addition to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

Meanwhile, reports claimed on Saturday that the Trump administration has extended the travel ban to Green Card holders who travelled recently to Ebola-hit areas.

The rare outbreak, already the third-largest in history, has infected more than 600 people in the region so far.

Here are the top developments on May 23:

1. Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day, Bloomberg reported.

Authorities in the DRC reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of May 21, according to the health ministry.

Yet health workers were able to follow up with only 342 contacts that day — about 21% of the total under monitoring — according to ministry data released Friday.

2. The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on Sunday. '

The virus appears to have circulated undetected for months in Ituri province before authorities recognised what they were dealing with.

3. According to reports, the outbreak has now spread across three provinces including South Kivu, where officials confirmed a case this week near Bukavu, a major city near Congo’s border with Rwanda. Two cases were confirmed earlier this week in neighboring Uganda.

4. The Red Cross announced on Saturday that three volunteers had died in the Democratic Republic of Congo after apparently contracting Ebola while on duty there in March. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said one had died on May 5 and the other two on May 15 and 16.

The IFRC were quoted by Reuters as saying that the volunteers were from the DR Congo Red Cross in Ituri, the northeastern province which is the outbreak's epicentre.

"Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane are believed to have contracted the Ebola virus on duty, while carrying out dead body management activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola," the IFRC said in a statement.

"At the time of the intervention, the community was not aware of the Ebola virus disease outbreak, and the outbreak had not yet been identified. They are among the first known victims of the outbreak."

5. Meanwhile, US health authorities said they plan to temporarily bar permanent residents from reentering the country if they’ve travelled recently to Ebola-affected areas.

The revision to quarantine rules lets the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) block lawful permanent residents, or green-card holders, from entering if they’ve traveled to countries where the virus is spreading, Bloomberg reported.

The CDC expanded public-health entry screenings for Ebola for all residents and citizens to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday after also implementing them at Washington Dulles International Airport a day before, the organisation announced Saturday.

6. Besides this, sources told Politico that the Trump administration has temporarily stopped deportation flights to the DRC. This includes general removal flights, as well as third-country removals of migrants whose home countries refuse to take them back from the US, an official was quoted as saying. It’s unclear how long the pause will last.

Immigration agents could come into contact with the virus during the trips, and the virus could spread closer to the US because of Trump’s immigration tactics, unnamed officials told Politico.

The White House and State Department deferred comment to the Department of Homeland Security. A DHS spokesperson said ICE “follows all applicable health and safety guidelines, including those outlined in the US Department of State’s travel advisory for the Democratic Republic of the Congo when conducting removal operations," Politico reported.

At least one woman is now in limbo after officials moved her to Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, and now say they won’t bring her back because of the Ebola travel ban – despite a judge’s order for her return.

It’s not clear what happens next to refugees who were already moved against their will to countries affected by or near the outbreak, the report stated. At least 37 people have been moved to these countries in recent months, according to Gillian Brockell, an independent journalist who tracks third-country removals by the US.

7. Health officials are now trying to track thousands of people who may have been exposed as infections spread through remote mining areas and urban centres, including Bunia and Goma, cities with populations approaching 700,000 and 860,000, respectively.

8. As per Reuters, the risk inside Congo is now considered “very high,” while neighbouring countries face a “high” regional threat, the WHO said.

Uganda has tightened border controls and suspended passenger transport links with Congo after reporting five confirmed Ebola cases.

Rwanda has also tightened screening measures and said on Friday most foreign travellers who recently visited Congo will be denied entry, while returning residents will face mandatory quarantine.

9. The latest ministry figures suggest confirmed transmission is spreading beyond the gold-mining hub of Mongbwalu, which was initially viewed as the epicentre.

While Mongbwalu remains the largest suspected cluster, confirmed infections are increasingly concentrated in surrounding health zones including Rwampara and Bunia.

Nyankunde, home to a major referral hospital serving about 200,000 people, has also emerged as a growing cluster with 11 confirmed cases and 340 contacts under follow-up, according to the ministry.

10. Ten African countries are at risk of being affected by the Ebola virus, in addition to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the African Union's health agency warned on Saturday, as per AFP.

"We have 10 countries at risk," said Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), listing Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.