Outbreak Outpaces Health Efforts
The World Health Organization has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading faster than response teams can contain it, while neighbouring countries face a high risk from the disease.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said operations are being urgently scaled up, but acknowledged that the epidemic is currently outpacing health authorities. He urged countries bordering the DRC to take immediate preventive action.
Deaths Continue To Rise
Speaking during an online meeting of the African Union, Tedros said the current outbreak has led to 220 suspected deaths so far.
He also announced that he would travel to the DRC on Tuesday with Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, as international concern grows over the speed and complexity of the outbreak.
Health Facilities Come Under Attack
The response has been further complicated by attacks on medical facilities in Ituri province, the centre of the outbreak. Residents of Mongbwalu town attacked the Mongbwalu general referral hospital on Saturday and again on Sunday.
Dr Richard Lokodu, the hospital’s medical director, said 18 Ebola patients fled on Saturday after unidentified individuals burned isolation tents set up by Médecins Sans Frontières. The hospital then faced four waves of attacks on Sunday.
Patients Escape During Violence
According to Lokodu, seven more patients escaped during Sunday’s unrest, which was reportedly driven by relatives of a religious leader who had died of Ebola.
Congolese police and soldiers had to intervene to restore order. During one of the attacks, a suspected Ebola patient in critical condition died while attempting to flee from his bed.
Burial Practices Fuel Tension
The attackers had reportedly demanded that the bodies of Ebola victims be released for burial. Authorities restrict the handling of bodies because they can remain highly contagious and pose a major transmission risk.
Some families, however, prefer traditional burial practices that involve washing and touching the body. In past Ebola outbreaks, such practices have been a key driver of transmission.
Similar Attack In Rwampara
A similar incident occurred Thursday in Rwampara, near Bunia, when a crowd set fire to a treatment centre after authorities refused to release the body of a victim for family burial.
The violence highlights one of the greatest challenges in outbreak response: building trust with communities while enforcing strict infection control measures necessary to stop the spread of the disease.
Uganda Reports More Cases
The outbreak has already crossed borders. Earlier this month, Tedros declared it a public health emergency of international concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths were reported in the DRC, along with two deaths in neighbouring Uganda.
On Monday, Uganda announced two additional Ebola cases, bringing its confirmed total to seven. Both new cases involved Ugandan health workers at a private health facility in the capital, Kampala.
Rare Strain Has No Approved Vaccine
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which there is currently no approved treatment or vaccine.
The main hotspots are Rwampara, Mongbwalu, Nyankunde and Bunia in Ituri province, a commercial and migration hub in north-eastern DRC. The region is also marked by long-running insecurity linked to militia conflict over land and gold resources.
Conflict Makes Containment Harder
Cases have also been reported in Butembo and rebel-controlled Goma in North Kivu province, as well as Bukavu in South Kivu province.
Tedros said containment is being made more difficult by insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu, the lack of an approved vaccine and community resistance to health measures. For the WHO and its partners, the urgent challenge is to restore trust, protect treatment centres and prevent the outbreak from spreading further across the region.
