WHO Warns Congo Ebola Outbreak Outpacing Response as Cases Top 8,200

The World Health Organization’s director-general has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is outpacing the emergency response, with new infections doubling in some hotspots and confirmed cases passing 8,200.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s September 30 update, the DRC had reported 8,224 confirmed cases and 3,982 related deaths (data up to September 29), an increase of 53 cases and 28 deaths in a single day. Ituri province remains the epicentre with 6,250 cases, and 63 of 167 health zones across seven provinces are now affected. About 78.7 per cent of identified contacts are under follow-up.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) described the outbreak — caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain — as the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded in the DRC. In a statement, MSF’s Dr Philippa Boulle warned it was “spreading at an alarming and unprecedented rate,” adding that at its Bunia treatment centre, 90 per cent of admitted patients had not been traced contacts. She urged an immediate scale-up, saying “every day lost allows the virus to stay one step ahead.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who visited the DRC this week, said in an online post that responders must “urgently and massively scale up all our efforts,” citing insecurity and displacement in eastern Congo. The US State Department pledged another $242 million in response funding and kept its Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan.

Sources: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control — https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/ebola-outbreak-democratic-republic-congo-and-uganda | The Eastleigh Voice (MSF/Tedros statements) — https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/headlines/387133/msf-warns-as-ebola-outbreak-largest-ever-recorded-in-drc