appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

Nearly 500 Ebola cases have now been confirmed in the deadly outbreak raging in central Africa, a WHO overview showed on Saturday, amid mounting concern over the swelling scale of the epidemic.
In its daily update on the situation, the World Health Organization tallied 452 confirmed cases, including 82 deaths, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), where the outbreak was declared three weeks ago.
In neighbouring Uganda, meanwhile, it counted 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths.
The total of 471 cases and 84 deaths, based on numbers reported by the governments of DR Congo and Uganda, marked an increase of 100 cases and 20 deaths from a day earlier.
The increase came amid warnings that the outbreak, which the WHO has declared an international public health emergency, could eventually swell to become the largest on record.

A top official at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that models indicated that without strong public health interventions, the current outbreak risked rivalling the scale of the 2014 West Africa epidemic, which saw over 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths.
“That scale is possible,” said Jason Asher, director of the CDC’s Centre for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, during a press briefing.
Ebola, which is spread through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
The current outbreak was declared on May 15 in northeastern DR Congo, but the virus is believed to have spread under the radar for some time beforehand.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the outbreak.

The WHO and the African CDC on Friday launched a US$518 million plan to battle the outbreak over the next six months, focusing among other things on boosting surveillance, laboratory testing and infection prevention.
“The outbreak is moving fast, and we are still playing catch-up,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
“We need to stop the outbreak where it is, support countries that are responding today, and ensure that neighbouring countries are ready to detect and act quickly if cases appear,” he said.
“This is a serious outbreak and it’s one we know how to stop but we need to move fast and together.”


Digital Silk Road: Hong Kong acts as financial bridge between China and MENA

Hong Kong finance chief urges Cathay to keep fares attractive, add routes

Uganda buries ‘boy king’ whose death sparked succession battle

China bets on early port and power deals in Sudan to secure post-war economic edge

Africa

WHO warns nearly 500 confirmed Ebola cases in Central Africa outbreak

A woman walks past the General Referral Hospital in Mongbwalu, DR Congo, on Friday. Photo: AP

Medical workers put on protective suits in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua via ZUMA Press/TNS

Health workers prepare for duty at the Mongbwalu treatment centre in Mongbwalu, the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Friday. Photo: AP

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (right) visits Bunia, the capital of Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 31. Photo: Xinhua

Kenya health minister says US Ebola quarantine centre will proceed despite deadly protests

Activists shout slogans as they carry a mock coffin during a protest against an Ebola facility in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

Activists protest against an Ebola facility in Nairobi on Tuesday. Kenyans are angry their territory is being used by a foreign power in a way that has colonial undertones. Photo: EPA

Protests over US Ebola centre in Kenya kill 2, court keeps block on site

A man takes part in a protest on Monday against a US-backed Ebola quarantine plan on the establishment of a 50-bed facility at a Kenyan air force base that was intended to host Americans exposed to Ebola, in Nanyuki town, in Laikipia County. Photo: Reuters

A protester raises a Kenyan flag near a burning barricade during a protest against a proposed Ebola quarantine centre to be established by the US in Nanyuki, Kenya. Photo: AP

Activists in Kenya protest against an Ebola facility in Nanyuki on Monday. Kenyan President William Ruto said the site would serve Kenyans and foreign nationals ‌too, though US officials have not confirmed this. Photo: EPA

WHO chief ends DR Congo visit as group warns Ebola likely spread undetected

A community leader raises Ebola awareness among traders in Goma, DR Congo. Photo: AFP

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has his temperature checked at a medical facility in Bunia, Ituri province, DR Congo. Photo: Reuters

Young Kenyans protest Ebola quarantine centre for US citizens

A protester holds up a sign during a rally on Monday against a proposed Ebola quarantine centre to be established by the United States at Laikipia Air Base in Kenya. Photo: AP

Kenyans protest against an Ebola quarantine centre to be established by the United States at Laikipia Air Base. Kenya has not recorded Ebola cases, but neighbouring Uganda has reported nine and closed its border with Congo. Photo: AP

News

World

The figure marks an increase of 100 cases and 20 deaths from Friday, amid growing concern over the scale of the epidemic


The figure marks an increase of 100 cases and 20 deaths from Friday, amid growing concern over the scale of the epidemic.


WHO warns nearly 500 confirmed Ebola cases in Central Africa outbreak

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The figure marks an increase of 100 cases and 20 deaths from Friday, amid growing concern over the scale of the epidemic

The figure marks an increase of 100 cases and 20 deaths from Friday, amid growing concern over the scale of the epidemic