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Congo Ebola Crisis: Contact Tracing Is Dangerously Behind, Officials Warn
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- Africa's top health agency warns that contact tracing in the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is significantly behind the required level to control the spread, with only 30% of contacts being traced compared to the needed 80%.
- Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC, cautions that failure to stop the outbreak now could result in the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded.
- Effective contact tracing is critical to breaking the transmission chain by identifying, monitoring, testing, and isolating contacts of infected individuals.
- The outbreak is marked by extensive community transmission, particularly in Ituri Province, where many infected individuals remain undetected by health workers.
- To improve response efforts, health agencies plan to recruit and train 20,000 local workers to conduct contact tracing, educate communities on protective measures, and perform safe burials.
