Geneva — The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could cause economic losses for African countries of up to $3.6 billion and threaten more than 300,000 jobs on the continent, according to Damien Mama, UN Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative and Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC.

"It could amount to up to 3.6 billion US dollars in economic losses and put more than 300,000 jobs at risk," he said at a briefing in Geneva.

According to him, the consequences for the countries that neighbor DRC, such as border restrictions, transport delays, declining consumer confidence, and interruptions to informal markets "could reduce the continental GDP by 2.37 billion, even if transmission remains largely contained."

Mama added that according to a socio-economic assessment presented by UNDP, "the outbreak would push close to an additional 1 million people into poverty in a country like DRC, where six out of 10 people live under the poverty line."

The current Ebola outbreak began on May 15 in eastern DRC and Uganda. It has affected three Congolese provinces. According to the latest data, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases has reached 1,307. The death toll has risen to 377. The fatality rate is 28.8%.