UN warns Ebola outbreak could cost Africa up to $3.6 billion

The United Nations warned that the Ebola outbreak could inflict up to $3.6 billion in economic losses across Africa and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, potentially turning the health crisis into a development emergency. UNDP's resident representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Damien Mama, said the outbreak can be contained with sufficient resources and effort, but cautioned that failure to act could allow the health crisis to evolve into a deeper and longer-term development shock for the region and the continent. According to a UNDP report outlining three scenarios, the most optimistic case, in which the outbreak remains confined to two countries, projects a roughly $1 billion loss to Congo's gross domestic product. The worst-case scenario assumes the disease spreads to countries such as Rwanda and Angola, combined with higher fuel costs linked to the war with Iran, and forecasts a $3.6 billion decline in continental GDP and 328,000 jobs lost. The Congolese government said the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine or proven treatment, has infected 1,307 people and killed 377 since 15 May. Smaller numbers of cases have been detected in Uganda, and experts have warned of a risk of further spread to neighboring countries including South Sudan.