As the world’s fastest-growing outbreak of Ebola hit more than 10,000 confirmed cases this week, Africa’s top doctor warned there could be “massive” spread into additional countries — and even other continents — unless countries such as Canada offer more support.
“No one is safe today,” said Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in an interview with CBC News from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday.
“We are calling on all African countries to increase the level of preparedness. But we’re also calling our Western countries, especially Canada, because Canada is where my heart is.”
Kaseya is from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has led Africa CDC for the past three years. But he has called Canada home since 2013. He told CBC News he has been living apart from his family — his three children attend university in Toronto, and his wife remains in Laval, Que. — as he works to end an unprecedented crisis that began in his home country.
He singled out Canada as an ally to African health officials, though he said more can still be done.
“This is my message to Canadians: No fear, no panic, but take it seriously, and even talk to your parliamentarians, talk to other people you know, if they can provide more support for this outbreak,” he told CBC News.
“I really want to be back home to celebrate with my family, but we need to stop this outbreak before doing that.”
Death toll surpasses 5,000
Kaseya’s comments follow a grim new milestone in this year’s Ebola outbreak. Confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo have surpassed 10,000, while the latest report from the country’s public health institute shows the death toll has surpassed 5,000.
The outbreak was first declared in mid-May, but scientists suspect the Bundibugyo strain of the virus had been spreading undetected for months in some of Congo’s most remote regions.
Ongoing conflict, public distrust and the lack of an approved treatment or vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain have further complicated efforts to contain the outbreak.
It is now the country’s largest-ever outbreak and the fastest-growing and second-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded — behind only the West Africa Ebola crisis, which infected more than 28,000 people, mainly across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, from 2014 to 2016.
“If this outbreak [continues] like that, with the same magnitude, in one year we’ll have more than what West Africa had in two years and a half,” Kaseya said.
“But it won’t be just a few countries. It will be more countries. It can also affect some other continents.”
A much smaller number of infections have already appeared in neighbouring countries, including Uganda, Kenya, and most recently in Nigeria, which reported its first Ebola infection in a decade.
That patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat, was flown to Switzerland for treatment on Monday, the latest in a series of patients evacuated to European countries since the outbreak began.
Kaseya said imported infections could continue as teams on the ground struggle to slow community transmission in new areas of Congo.
The risk to Canada remains low, he added, though he implored Canadian officials to “move from low to zero by supporting [Africa] to stop the outbreak where it is currently.”
Canada offered $8M to Ebola fight
Canada committed $8 million to the Ebola response in May, including $2 million for Africa CDC to accelerate surveillance and strengthen biosecurity measures. In late July, Health Canada also authorized Moderna to launch a clinical trial of its vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo virus.
The federal government also introduced temporary border measures aimed at reducing the risk of Ebola entering and spreading in Canada, including outbreak alerts issued for Kenya and Nigeria in October.
“The Government of Canada will continue to monitor the situation closely and may adjust these measures, as appropriate, based on evolving evidence and the epidemiological situation both in Canada and internationally,” the Public Health Agency of Canada told CBC News in a statement this week.
Alongside those official efforts, Canadian research teams are also working behind the scenes to study this once-rare form of Ebola.
University of Winnipeg microbiologist Jason Kindrachuk said Canadian and Congolese scientists have sequenced more than 1,000 genomes to date, offering insights into how the virus is behaving and whether existing vaccines may offer cross-protection for the Bundibugyo strain.
But he stressed there are “finite resources” for that collaborative, cross-border work.
In May, Canada implemented temporary measures restricting entry into the country for foreign nationals arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan due to Ebola risks. As a result, many Congolese students in Montreal face a difficult dilemma: they want to visit their families, but fear the restrictions will prevent them from re-entering Canada for their studies.
Canadian scientists ‘scramble’ for research funding
“We’re trying to scramble with funds from whatever sources we have to be able to keep things like genome sequencing alive, to keep testing alive … so I think at some point we need to see bigger investment, and certainly sustained investment, from the high-income areas of the world,” Kindrachuk said.
“I think there’s a real need for Canada and other countries to step up.”
Kaseya praised Canada’s efforts to date, including the close collaboration between African and Canadian health officials, but agreed that the threat of Ebola could persist for months without broader support to end the crisis.
“We’ll continue to work hard to keep Canada safe — we’ll do our best to keep all other countries in the world safe — but … if we do not provide support, we cannot guarantee that all of us will be safe,” he said.
