UN warns Ebola will cost Africa $3.6bn in jobs | News about Ebola

The latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC has infected 1,307 people and killed 377 since May.

The United Nations said that the Ebola epidemic could cost Africa 3.6 billion dollars and thousands of jobs, which would lead to a development crisis.

An outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no tested vaccine or treatment, has infected 1,307 people and killed 377 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since it was declared on May 15, the government says.

Fewer cases have been reported in Uganda, and experts have warned of the possibility of the spread to other neighbours, such as South Sudan.

“If we have the resources and take action, we can control the epidemic and prevent further damage,” said Damien Mama, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) representative in the DRC.

“If we don’t, this emergency could become a larger development problem for the entire region, and the entire region.”

UNDP described three events that have taken place. In the best case scenario, while the epidemic is still in the two countries, the cost is $1bn in the DRC’s gross domestic product (GDP), the report said.

At its worst, the disease has spread to other countries, including Rwanda and Angola, and is linked to rising oil prices linked to the Iran crisis, cutting global GDP by $3.6bn and causing 328,000 job losses, the report added.

The conflict-hit Ituri region is at the epicenter of the country’s latest Ebola outbreak – the 17th – which began in May. Often, the virus is spread at funerals, where the bodies most infected with Ebola are treated.

For weeks, aid workers, facing distrust among the community, have struggled to organize safe burials in the affected areas to protect the dead. In the DRC, funerals usually last several days, during which relatives and friends touch the body of the deceased.

Last week, the government banned public gatherings in four provinces, including the country’s capital, Kinshasa, as it continues to fight the spread of the virus.

The order was issued ahead of protests planned in Kinshasa on July 8 against the constitutional changes, with critics calling the ban “politically motivated”.