Congo’s Ebola footprint widens as officials race to gauge epidemic’s true scale

Congo’s Ebola outbreak is being detected across a widening swath of the country’s conflict-hit east as health authorities struggle to trace contacts and determine the true scale of the epidemic.

The outbreak’s apparent geographic footprint expanded to 22 affected health zones across three eastern provinces, from 13 reported just days earlier, according to government data. Health officials are simultaneously clearing testing backlogs and reclassifying hundreds of suspected cases, making it difficult to determine how much of the increase reflects new transmission and how much reflects improved detection and surveillance.

The rapidly growing epidemic has become one of the most complex Ebola outbreaks in years, unfolding across areas impacted by armed conflict, mass displacement and weak health infrastructure. The Bundibugyo strain responsible has no approved vaccine or treatment and has also infected nine people in neighboring Uganda.