The Central African Republic has tightened health checks at its borders in response to rising Ebola cases in neighbouring DR Congo, Channels Television reported on Thursday.
The outlet did not give details on which crossings are affected or what the screening involves. The move follows an outbreak that has now passed 10,000 cases, most of them in DR Congo, according to Africanews.
Premium Times Nigeria reports that deaths in the country are approaching 5,000, while the World Health Organization has expressed hope about the response. Punch Newspapers, citing the WHO, says DR Congo is recording between 50 and 80 new cases each day.
The scale of the daily caseload helps explain why authorities in the Central African Republic are acting at their frontier with DR Congo. The two countries share a long border, and the outbreak is concentrated in DR Congo.
Outside the region, the risk is viewed as limited. The Telegraph reports that experts in the United Kingdom describe the likelihood of the virus spreading there as low.
The WHO's case and death figures, and its assessment of the outbreak's direction, are the numbers to watch. The Central African Republic has not said how long its tighter border measures will remain in place.
