Congo: The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is continuing to spread faster than response efforts, the World Health Organisation’s emergencies chief, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said on Tuesday after returning from Bunia, one of the worst-hit areas in Ituri province.
Ihekweazu said the situation had improved in some areas but remained deeply concerning as many new infections were emerging from unknown chains of transmission. Congo has been battling the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola since May, with no approved treatment or vaccine.
“Perhaps the most alarming finding is that many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in their communities without ever reaching a health facility and without receiving care,” Ihekweazu said. “And as of today, 80 per cent of new cases are outside our contact lists and so are coming to us from unknown chains of transmission.”
As of Monday, Congolese authorities said at least 1,926 people had been infected and 702 had died across three provinces. Cases have also been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. Last week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control said this was the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.
Ihekweazu said his visit to Bunia had been “quite encouraging on many fronts, but also deeply concerning on many fronts”. He said treatment capacity had reached nearly 800 beds, laboratory capacity had expanded from one lab to 14, and other response efforts had improved. However, he added that despite “our best efforts … we have not caught up in the race”.
The response has been affected by funding shortages, attacks on health centres, conflict in eastern Congo and mistrust among communities. Clinical trials for treatment began last week as efforts continue to contain the outbreak.
