A study suggested the current outbreak is “larger than currently ascertained” and that its “true magnitude remains uncertain” while health experts fear it has spread faster than first feared
A deadly Ebola outbreak of which there is no treatment available could be spreading faster than it was first feared, health experts warn.
A global public health emergency has already been declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after 131 people were killed and officials say more than 513 cases are now suspected in the country. One person has died in neighbouring Uganda.
Now Dr Anne Ancia, from the World Health Organisation, said they investigate the outbreak, the clearer it becomes cases have spread to other areas. One man in outbreak’s epicentre of Ituri said infected people were dying “very fast”, adding: “Ebola has tortured us.”
Modelling by the London-based MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis released on Monday suggested the outbreak had been under-detected and it could not rule out there had already been more than 1,000 cases.
Dr Ancia said DR Congo’s Ituri province was a “very unsecured area with lots of movement of population”, making it difficult for the agency to investigate and help control the disease.
She told the BBC: “The more we are investigating this outbreak, the more we realise that it has already disseminated at least a little bit across border and also in other provinces.”
There is no vaccine for the strain of Ebola virus fuelling the latest rise in cases, but the WHO is evaluating whether other drugs may provide protection. It is feared the outbreak may have been ongoing for several weeks before it was first detected on 24 April.
A local told the BBC that people are “really scared” and doing what they can to protect themselves. He said locals are taking precautions such as washing hands with clean water, but he wished they could get access to protective supplies such as face masks.
Alfred Giza, another local, said people in the community are aware of the threat and waiting to receive face masks to protect themselves, but that he would not know what to do if a family member or friend contracted the disease.
Foreign nationals that have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last three weeks have been banned from entering the United States under new measures to prevent the outbreak spreading.
At least six Americans are reported to have been exposed to Ebola in the rapidly spreading outbreak. One – believed to be missionary group doctor Peter Stafford – is being evacuated from the DR Congo after developing symptoms over the weekend.
Germany’s health ministry told the BBC a US citizen was being taken to the country for treatment.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.