The United Nations has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is rapidly worsening, calling for a large-scale international response as violence in the east of the country continues to complicate efforts to contain the virus.
"Until every chain is found and broken, the epidemic will continue and will continue to pose a threat to DRC, its neighbors and the region as a whole," the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters in Geneva.
The outbreak has become Congo’s largest Ebola epidemic on record, with more than 6,000 confirmed infections and over 3,000 deaths reported as of Wednesday.
The outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for that specific strain.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher had warned member states that the outbreak could no longer be managed through a gradual response.
“Tom Fletcher stressed today that we cannot respond incrementally to the Ebola epidemic, which is now growing exponentially,” Dujarric said.
Fletcher said humanitarian organisations had the experience and tools needed to control the outbreak but required stronger political support, access to affected areas and additional funding.
“He noted that time is not on our side, but that we have the experience, we have the tools and we have people risking their own lives to stop this epidemic,” Dujarric added.
The UN said continued violence in eastern Congo was driving displacement and making it more difficult for health teams to respond.
Humanitarian agencies are continuing to support the Congolese government’s efforts despite the security challenges.
The International Organization for Migration has carried out nearly 23 million health screenings in Congo and neighbouring countries to monitor population movements, detect possible infections and reduce the risk of cross-border transmission.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, has also increased its presence in Ituri province following clashes between Congolese forces, backed by the Ugandan army, and suspected fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces militia in Bamande.
“Given the continuing risk to the population, MONUSCO deployed a mobile operating base and placed a medical team on standby in Bamande, which is a key crossroads town,” Dujarric said.
The mission has also expanded community protection programmes in Djugu territory, helping more than 60,000 people safely access farmland and schools while supporting conditions for displaced families to return home.
Schools reopened this week in areas of Democratic Republic of Congo hardest hit by Ebola, after authorities decided the risk of transmission was outweighed by the risk of pupils struggling with remote learning, an official told Reuters on Wednesday.
More than 1,000 schools in Ituri are classified as being in the "red zone", meaning a high-risk zone or zone of active transmission, according to an education ministry document seen this week by Reuters.
Schools also reopened in areas of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces controlled by the Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebels, who staged a lightning offensive in the region last year, according to a rebel official. Authorities are requiring hand-washing and social distancing in classrooms, the official said.
Health workers in the city of Kisangani have launched an Ebola vaccination campaign as authorities attempt to slow transmission.
By Saturday, 494 people had received the Ervebo vaccine in the city’s Makiso district, according to Salatiel Wayele, the district’s vaccination coordinator. The Ervebo vaccine immunises against the Zaire strain of Ebola, but not the Bundibugyo strain.
Community health workers are calling for wider access to vaccines, saying broader immunisation could help break the chain of transmission.
“We are calling on the authorities to make the vaccine available on a larger scale so that we can vaccinate the entire population of Kisangani,” said health worker Jean-Claude Omari.
Congo began using Ervebo last week to protect frontline workers and people at higher risk, even though the vaccine is approved for a different Ebola species.
Wayele said previous experience from Bunia had encouraged health workers to promote vaccination, noting that many people who died there had not been vaccinated, while most survivors had received the vaccine.
Despite the campaign, some residents remain sceptical about vaccination.
Kisangani resident Thethe Kiditcho said she would not take the vaccine because she had not seen signs of Ebola spreading in her neighbourhood.
She recalled the death of a young man in her area who suffered severe headaches and was later confirmed by authorities to have died from Ebola.
“They then came to take his body to bury it. We were not even able to see his corpse,” she said.
Health teams continue to work across six provinces as Ebola transmission remains active.
The United Kingdom has announced more than £50 million ($67.5 million) in new funding to support Congo’s Ebola response.
The latest contribution brings Britain’s total support for the outbreak response to £78 million ($105.1 million), following an earlier £20 million ($27 million) allocation in May.
The funding will support disease surveillance, frontline healthcare workers, treatment access, infection prevention measures, community outreach and safe burial programmes.
British public health experts have also been deployed to Congo to assist local response teams.
“As the outbreak intensifies, we are accelerating our response to match the pace and scale of the challenge,” said Britain’s Minister for Africa Kirsty McNeill.
The UN and international partners say urgent action is needed to prevent further spread of the virus as health workers continue efforts to contain one of Congo’s most serious Ebola outbreaks.
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