DRC Ebola Outbreak: Africa CDC experts assess impact, advise AU on next steps

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01:25

A team of experts from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is assessing the impact of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They'll advise the African Union on further actions needed to combat the spread of the virus. CGTN's Coletta Wanjohi reports from Addis Ababa.

COLETTA WANJOHI ADDIS ABABA "The team of medical experts from the Africa CDC is comprised of medical practitioners who were engaged in response operations during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 in western Africa and 2017 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On top of an emergency operation center that it has set up, the Africa Centre for Disease Control has allocated 250,000 dollars for immediate response activities as more is mobilised from AU member states and international partners.

The Africa CDC says it will work closely with its key international partners like China to assist the DRC. The AU has said it will activate all its possible support mechanisms to support the DRC in fighting the Ebola outbreak.

This is the 9th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since 1976 and the country had been considered to have capacity to deal with the virus.

The operations of the African center for Disease control have been streamlined since the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa that caught the continent unprepared and claimed lives of over 11,000 people. CW - CGTN - Addis Ababa- Ethiopia."