Nearly half of those infected with the virus have died in the DRC’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.
Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have surpassed 10,000 as the outbreak continues to spread across the country and beyond its borders.
Government data released Tuesday puts confirmed cases at 10,060 and deaths at 4,887.
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It is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak in the country’s history and nearly half of the 10,060 people infected with the virus have died, according to data from the DRC’s Ministry of Public Health. It also makes it the deadliest disease outbreak in the country’s history.
With cases also rising outside the DRC, the wider outbreak is also the second largest and second deadliest on record, behind the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which saw 28,600 people infected and more than 11,000 dead in two years.
About 80 percent of new cases come from outside the transmission chains monitored by health authorities.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said that at least 95 percent of cases must come from known contacts of infected people for the outbreak to be considered under control.
The outbreak, declared on May 15, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain of Ebola for which no vaccine or treatment has been approved. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of the first clinical trial of a vaccine.
Healthcare shortages
Five months into the outbreak, responders in the DRC say some treatment centers are overwhelmed, while remote and newly affected areas lack medical supplies and health workers.
Cases were recorded in 66 health zones across eight provinces, up from just three in the first days.
Many teams lack adequate vehicles and struggle to persuade families to hand over the sick for treatment and the dead for safe burial. At least half of those who died were never admitted for treatment.
The outbreak disrupted routine care such as childhood vaccinations, and maternal deaths doubled in some provinces soon after it was declared.
Strikes over delayed or unpaid wages are common. Last week, Ebola responders in Nia Nia, Ituri province, stopped work due to bonuses owed since the end of August.
Health workers have also been attacked amid public distrust and frustration with the government’s response.
On Saturday, attackers killed a nurse and seriously injured a colleague as the two men responded to a suspected case of Ebola in Bafwasende, Tshopo province, the WHO said.
“All those working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
Last month, Marie-Célestin Karondwa, a local politician, was fatally beaten after defending the Ebola response on the radio, her party said.
Cross-border infections
The virus has had a wider cross-border reach than any previous Ebola outbreak. Governments and international organizations have worked to contain cross-border infections.
In neighboring Uganda, Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced on Sunday that citizens returning from the DRC must quarantine for 21 days at their own expense as a precaution.
The country’s authorities said there were no active infections in the country after recording 20 cases – mostly imported from the DRC – and two deaths over the summer.
Swiss authorities, however, said a woman married to a Swiss diplomat was infected during a visit to Uganda in September.
Last week, she was diagnosed with Ebola while visiting Nigeria, making it the fourth African country affected by the outbreak. Nigerian authorities responded by instituting enhanced disease control at airports. On Monday, the patient was evacuated to Switzerland for treatment.
In Kenya, confirmed infections increased rapidly in October. Twenty contacts of the country’s first patient were released from mandatory quarantine on Monday after 21 days, while 98 remain under surveillance, the WHO said. Since then, the number of confirmed cases in Kenya has risen to nine, including two deaths.
Gn Health
