African health authorities insisted the Ebola outbreak on the continent could be stopped and promised a vaccine would be ready by year-end, even as a top former US health official said the epidemic could be the worst ever.
More than 200 deaths and nearly 1,000 cases have been recorded, though the World Health Organization said those were likely undercounts. Combatting the outbreak has been complicated: The virus strain is new, and the epicenter of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the site of fighting between multiple groups.
“This is on track to potentially be as bad as the [2014] West African Ebola outbreak if not worse,” a former US health security official told Semafor.