Congo's Ebola outbreak shows no signs of slowing as deaths top 3,000

by CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA and OPE ADETAYO

edited by Andrew Zinin

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Congo's Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,000 people out of more than 6,100 confirmed cases, according to the latest government data from Wednesday, as the disease is spreading at an unprecedented speed, faster than efforts to track and slow it.

Data from Congo's Ministry of Health showed the outbreak has recorded 6,186 confirmed cases, including 3,007 deaths since it was declared a global health emergency in mid-May. It remains the fastest-growing outbreak of Ebola ever.

Jean-Claude Angwanzia, a resident of Bunia, said that he left Mambassa in the epicenter of Ituri province, because he didn't feel safe. He said that he hardly saw health workers and infected bodies were being mishandled, prompting safety concerns.

"I had to flee the area because of the danger looming over us," he said.

The pace of the outbreak is putting a strain on people's lives.

Papy Baraka, a public transportation driver in Bunia, has had to cut down on the number of passengers he picks up in his car.

"The disease puts everyone at risk, and daily life has slowed to a crawl. We are afraid," he said.

Recent weeks have witnessed a surge in cases, with two new health zones affected last week in North Kivu, where the fatality rate is much higher than in the rest of the affected provinces. The virus has spread to six provinces.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday in a report that the efforts to contain the virus "remained below established response targets" and the fast expansion of the disease across many health zones indicates "uncontrolled expansion of the outbreak."

The report said that the statistics show that most of the cases are "occurring outside known transmission chains" as a result of the percentage of confirmed new cases coming from only between 15% and 20% of known contacts.

Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that there are chains of transmission the health authorities are not aware of.

"Until every chain is found and broken, the epidemic will continue; And it will continue to pose a threat to DRC, its neighbors, and the region as a whole," he said.

Health workers are struggling under difficult conditions and have gone on strike multiple times to demand their pay.

The disease has continued to spread rapidly for several reasons, including conflict in the eastern region of the country where the outbreak is concentrated, attacks on health workers, miners constantly on the move, and inadequate health infrastructure.

The resumption of school in the middle of the outbreak has also raised concerns about transmission in classrooms.

The World Health Organization said that the outbreak is on track to exceed the deadliest on record, West Africa's regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the outbreak is possibly three times larger than the number of cases recorded, as surveillance and contact tracing are still weak. Despite that, the outbreak has already become Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak.

There is no vaccine or approved treatment for the rare Bundibugyo virus that has sparked the current outbreak. A couple of vaccines are being developed to tackle the disease.

Last week, the government started the distribution of the Ervebo vaccine to front-line health workers in Kisangani in the northeastern Tshopo region. Ervebo has helped combat previous Ebola disease outbreaks, and WHO said that it could offer some protection.

Key medical concepts

Vaccine, Ervebo

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Infectious diseasesCommon illnesses & Prevention Who's behind this story?

Andrew Zinin

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