WHO: Ebola outbreak worsens in Congo and is now biggest ever

Despite weeks of efforts, the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa is not only not under control, it is worsening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the risk of it spreading to neighbouring countries rising, the Word Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.

The outbreak is now the biggest the country has ever experienced, the UN health agency said.

“A substantial scaling up of response activities is needed to get ahead of the outbreak, the WHO said in a statement published on Saturday.

Within the past week, more infections (567) and more deaths (296) than in any single previous week were reported, it said. Overall, the WHO puts the number of laboratory-confirmed cases at 3,605, including 1,587 deaths. Some 651 patients have survived the infection.

The previous biggest outbreak in Congo took place between 2018 and 2020, when there were 3,317 confirmed cases.

The current outbreak is of the Bundibugyo variant, for which there is still no approved vaccine. A trial of a newly developed vaccine is currently under way.

Complicated security situation

The higher figures are partly due to better surveillance and more laboratory tests, the WHO said.

“However, most of the increase reflects the expansion of the outbreak,” it added. Only up to 80% of contacts of infected people are monitored for infection for three weeks, but specialists say 95% is required.

Public health workers face a difficult security situation with rebel conflicts, hundreds of thousands of displaced people and deep distrust among the population.

Too few reach treatment centres

Experts assume the number of infected people is far higher than the number of confirmed cases. Many people who fall ill with Ebola are not taken to treatment centres and relatives often assume in the event of a death that another illness is to blame.

Burials are considered particularly sensitive because people remain highly infectious beyond death and relatives can easily become infected when washing bodies. Aid organizations offer families safe and dignified burials with protective suits and other precautions.

The Ebola outbreak started in January – possibly even earlier – but was only discovered months later, the journal Science reported, based on information from three scientists on the ground in the Congo.

Congo only declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in mid-May.

The scientists spoke to around 100 people in the remote gold-mining town of Mongbwalu, which is considered an early epicentre, it said. They said a patient who needed medical help may have brought the virus into the town from a rural area.

Ebola viruses are transmitted from animals to humans, for example when wild animals such as bats are hunted and eaten.