Ebola Death Toll in DR Congo Passes 2,500 as Outbreak Spreads Exponentially
UN coordinator Julien Harneis said the Bundibugyo strain is growing faster and wider than the response capacity. More than 160 health workers have fallen ill and 43 have died.
Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo1 min read
Last updated
More than 2,500 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s current Ebola outbreak, UN senior coordinator Julien Harneis reported on Friday. The outbreak is spreading exponentially across an area larger than France and is growing faster than the response can contain it.
The epidemic is Congo’s 17th and the deadliest in the country’s history. It is caused by the Bundibugyo species, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. Confirmed cases earlier this month already exceeded 4,900.
Some 160 healthcare workers have contracted the virus and 43 of them have died. More than 260 attacks on health workers have been recorded in six months. Ambulances have been burned and facilities stoned. Community resistance, often driven by conspiracy theories that the outbreak is a hoax, has hindered safe burials and contact tracing.
Harneis warned that the epidemic could reach neighbouring countries without a rapid increase in staffing and resources for remote areas. The response operates in a region that has endured three decades of conflict and already faces large humanitarian needs.
The case fatality ratio has risen to about 46 percent. Funding pools for the response are expected to run out within weeks unless new contributions arrive.
