Ebola outbreak could cost Africa up to $3.6 billion, UN says

GENEVA - The United Nations said on Tuesday that an Ebola outbreak could cost Africa up to $3.6 billion and hundreds of thousands of jobs, potentially causing a development crisis.

The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no tested vaccine or treatment, has infected 1,307 people and killed 377 in the Democratic Republic of Congo since being declared on May 15, the government says.

A much smaller number of cases have been reported in Uganda and experts warn of the possibility of it spreading to other neighbours,such as South Sudan.

"If we have the resources and we step up, we can contain this outbreak and prevent further losses," said Damien Mama, United Nations Development Programme resident representative in Congo.

"If we do not, this health emergency risks becoming a much deeper and prolonged development crisis across the region and potentially the continent."

The UNDP outlined three scenarios for the outbreak. In the best scenario, where the epidemic remains contained in the two countries, the cost is $1 billion for Congo's GDP, the report said.

In the worst-case scenario, the disease spreads to countries including Rwanda and Angola and coincides with higher fuel costs linked to the Iran crisis, cutting continental GDP by $3.6 billion and resulting in 328,000 job losses, the report said.

-Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Thomas Seythal and Alex Richardson/Reuters