The outbreak, which has now spread across five provinces, has killed more people at a quicker rate than any previous Ebola outbreak, including the devastating 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths, while the current crisis crossed that threshold in just over two months.
A Fire That Cannot Be Contained
Speaking during an online press briefing on Thursday evening, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya stressed that the continued outbreak "is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded" and is now the second-largest by total confirmed cases.
"It is a very serious outbreak. We are now fighting because we don't want this outbreak to become the largest ever Ebola outbreak," he said.
Julien Harneis, the UN senior Ebola coordinator, painted a grim picture of the situation from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province and the epicentre of the outbreak: "In the last 24 hours, 50 people have died of Ebola in the Congo. And the number of cases is growing exponentially, doubling every 20 days. This is a far faster growth than the growth in our response. And so the gap between the epidemic and our response is widening."
Critical Constraints Hampering Response
Kaseya expressed concern over critical constraints hindering response efforts, citing limited contact tracing capabilities, climbing community cases and deaths, a rising case fatality rate, and inadequate bed capacity.
More than 80 percent of new cases in Ituri, the epicentre, lack identified links to known contacts, making it extremely difficult to track and contain the virus. More than 60 percent of deaths are occurring within communities rather than at Ebola treatment centres, meaning people are dying without ever reaching care.
"Eighty per cent of new cases are outside our contact lists and so are coming to us from unknown chains of transmission," WHO Executive Director Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu warned, describing the outbreak as "a fire" with something driving its expansion.
Other major obstacles include persistent funding shortages, insecurity, unsafe burial practices, and infections and deaths among healthcare workers. In early July, some healthcare workers in Ituri province went on strike due to delayed pay and unsafe working conditions.
The Challenge of an Untreatable Strain
The current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo virus, the rarest of the four known Ebola variants capable of causing disease in humans. To date, no vaccine has been proven effective against this strain, and no approved treatments exist.
The lack of a suitable vaccine, coupled with prolonged fighting between armed groups in the affected region, has created an opportunity for the virus to spread very rapidly.
Despite these challenges, progress has been made in several areas, including improvements in laboratory testing capacity. Currently, 19 laboratories are actively engaged in testing, marking a notable boost from only two active at the onset, while daily testing capacity has now surpassed 3,000 samples. The recent launch of clinical trials of therapeutics targeting the Bundibugyo strain is also considered a breakthrough.
Uganda's Success Story
Despite the worsening situation in the DRC, Uganda has successfully contained the outbreak. Ugandan authorities officially declared the outbreak over on Tuesday after completing the mandatory 42-day monitoring period following the discharge of the last locally transmitted patient.
Uganda recorded a total of 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths, both of whom were from the DRC. Eighteen patients recovered.
"Uganda's success sends a clear message: when political leadership, communities and public health move together, outbreaks can be stopped," said Kaseya, adding that the country's achievement reflects the commitment and dedication of health workers, communities, national authorities and partners.
The Africa CDC called on Uganda's health authorities to remain fully engaged with continued vigilance and infection prevention measures, as the outbreak evolves in parts of the DRC which borders Uganda.
High-Risk Countries and International Response
Beyond the DRC and Uganda, 11 other countries across the continent have been designated as high-risk: South Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Somalia.
The UN humanitarian response plan for the DRC requires US$2.1 billion but is only 45 percent funded. The World Food Programme requires US$76 million for the Ebola response in the DRC over the next six months, covering only logistics, not food.
"The response must urgently scale up, with more funding, supplies, medical teams and access to reach those in need," Harneis said, calling on member states to keep their borders open so that Ebola response personnel can travel to the country.
With reporting from Africa CDC, WHO, Reuters, Xinhua, BBC, UN OCHA, The East African and The Standard.
