Medical charity urges Ebola response scale-up in DR Congo as confirmed cases jump above 2,000

James Tasamba

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading faster than efforts to contain it, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday, as the number of confirmed cases jumped above 2,000.

MSF said that the medical response needed to be scaled up to contain the spread of the virus, which has affected 41 health zones two months after the current outbreak.

The caseload reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, on Wednesday, with a case fatality rate of 37.5% since the outbreak was declared May 15, according to a Health Ministry situation update.

The virus has affected five provinces, including Haut-Uele, Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Tshopo.

MSF said the epidemic continues to spread at an unprecedented pace and into new areas, while efforts to control it remain insufficient.

“Every delay costs lives. We are still chasing the outbreak instead of staying ahead of it,” said Trish Newport, MSF emergency program manager. “More people become infected, more families lose loved ones, and the epidemic becomes harder to contain. We need stronger, more coordinated international action to move faster and improve access to both Ebola care and other essential health services.”

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, has become the third-largest and the fastest-growing, Ebola outbreak on record in just two months, according to MSF.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that the number of affected health zones increased from 36 to 42 in the last week.

WHO said the scale of the outbreak in Congo could be two to four times bigger than official estimates and the fastest-growing ever recorded, with most new cases coming from unknown transmission chains.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has launched in Congo and Uganda the first clinical trial evaluating post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with obeldesivir for Ebola.

MSF urged health authorities and humanitarian organizations to swiftly increase resources across all aspects of the Ebola response, including community engagement, surveillance, testing and diagnosis, as well as dignified management of bodies and burials.