The European Commission is buying €2.5 million worth of rapid diagnostic tests to support the response to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the supplies to be donated to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the organisation said.
The Commission said it is procuring rapid molecular point-of-care tests and testing instruments, with support from the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Point-of-care tests are designed to be used close to patients rather than in a central laboratory.
First deliveries are due to begin in August, it added. A further agreement with the World Health Organization for additional tests is also being prepared, the Commission said.
Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said the move followed her visit to Ituri province, where partners had called for faster diagnostic capacity. “In an Ebola outbreak, every hour matters,” she said, adding that the tests would help detect cases earlier and get patients into care sooner.
Case and death figures reported by ECDC
The outbreak has recorded 3,381 confirmed cases and 1,489 confirmed deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Uganda has reported 20 confirmed cases and two confirmed deaths, the agency said.
The Commission said it has mobilised €493 million in emergency aid, vaccines, treatment and health security for the Great Lakes and Uganda region. The risk of Ebola to people in Europe is currently assessed as “very low”, the ECDC said.
