Congo's Ebola death toll reached 648 and confirmed cases reached 1,830, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, calling it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak recorded on the continent.
The Congolese health ministry said suspected cases have been recorded in the provinces of Tshopo and Haut-Uele, and a government report published late Wednesday said two cases were suspected in Kisangani in Tshopo; the health minister did not say how many were suspected in Haut-Uele.
The government report said one of the two suspected cases in Tshopo was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, while the other "has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks," and authorities were investigating.
A U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in Congo has tested positive for the Ebola virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The CDC said it was working with the person's employer, U.S. agencies, public health authorities and Congolese partners to prevent further transmission and identify close contacts.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.
In the first week of the outbreak, an American doctor working in Congo tested positive for the virus and was transferred to Germany for treatment; after weeks of care at a hospital in Germany he recovered and, with family members who were quarantined separately, returned to the United States in June.
Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15 after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organization, and the outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. Last week, clinical trials for treatment began after researchers launched a study.
The government report said efforts to contain the virus have been hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centers and an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the ongoing conflict has led thousands of people to flee the violence, spreading the virus further, and that doctors and other healthcare workers often do not have adequate protective gear, which can leave them vulnerable to the virus.
Initially, Trump administration officials had said the United States planned to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them home, but that project was suspended after an order from a Kenyan court; the Trump administration has asked Congress for $1.4 billion in supplemental funding to respond to the outbreak in the Congo, Uganda and elsewhere.