Birx Warns Congo Ebola Outbreak Nears 750 Cases as U.S. Cites Deep Bench, $400 Million Aid
Updated
Updated · KYMA · May 24
Birx Warns Congo Ebola Outbreak Nears 750 Cases as U.S. Cites Deep Bench, $400 Million Aid
4 articles · Updated · KYMA · May 24
Nearly 750 suspected Ebola cases and almost 200 deaths in and around Congo reflect an outbreak that likely went undetected for three to four weeks, Deborah Birx said, leaving officials to assess it with data already two weeks old.
Birx said that delayed detection may explain the rapid jump in reported cases and makes it hard to judge the current trajectory of new infections—the key measure in an acute outbreak.
On U.S. risk, she said hospitals have strengthened since earlier Ebola scares, with multiple bio-containment facilities now in place, and pointed to the diversion of a Paris-to-Detroit flight to Montreal as evidence travel controls are being enforced.
Birx also pushed back on fears that U.S. support had been gutted, saying CDC global health security funding was retained and Uganda is still set to receive more than $400 million this year despite an estimated 5% cut.
She said an interagency Ebola response task force is already deploying people, money and other assets, while arguing the African CDC still needs stronger backing as an early regional mobilizer.
Why do U.S. travel bans contradict WHO advice against border closures during outbreaks?
With no specific vaccine for this Ebola strain, how vulnerable is the world to a wider outbreak?
Uganda contains Ebola repeatedly. Why is the outbreak in neighboring Congo proving so much harder to stop?