Fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in Congo's history
The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing its fastest-growing Ebola outbreak, which has now killed more than 2,300 people, making it the deadliest outbreak of the disease ever recorded in the country. According to government data released overnight into Monday, August 17, there have been 4,945 cases including 2,325 deaths. This is Congo's 17th and largest Ebola outbreak, eclipsing the 2018-2020 outbreak when 2,299 deaths out of 3,481 cases were recorded.
The latest figures show 101 new cases and 33 deaths in the previous 24 hours. Over 1,000 people have recovered, while 730 remain in hospitals or isolation. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the outbreak is on track to surpass the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record with more than 11,000 deaths.
WHO warned over the weekend that the outbreak is moving at an 'exceptional pace' ahead of efforts to track it, having reached a weekly record of 579 cases and 304 deaths in the previous week. "A substantial scaling up of response activities is underway to get ahead of the outbreak," the agency said.
Frontline workers face danger and unpaid wages
At the heart of the response are health workers like Sophie Mwadawa Kabundo, a nurse at an Ebola treatment centre in the north-east who fears contracting the virus and passing it to her family. "More and more confirmed cases are being admitted here… Some of our colleagues have died," she said. "We fear that, despite our vigilance, workplace accidents may occur and put us in ever greater danger… We go to sleep already worrying about the days ahead, as patients continue to pour in."
Her colleague, hygiene worker Martin Bolombi at the Elikya treatment centre in Bunia, capital of the hardest-hit province Ituri, holds similar fears. "Personally, this outbreak is causing me a lot of stress," he said. "But I have no choice but to pluck up my courage and ensure that the situation is brought under control first, before it can stabilise."
That courage is all the more remarkable given that both workers on the frontline of the outbreak said they were not being paid. "I have been working since May and have only been paid for June," said Bolombi, who was among about 100 people who protested outside the Elikya treatment centre during a strike last month over unpaid bonuses. Kabundo said she was also missing wages. "We are not being paid and we want the government to provide solutions as soon as possible," she said. "We are under immense pressure… We are exposed to the risk of infection, and our families and other loved ones may contract the disease because of us."
Unpaid wages are just one of the factors—alongside misinformation, community mistrust, and infrastructure deficits—hampering efforts to tackle the outbreak in the DRC, one of the world's poorest countries.
Community hostility complicates containment
Hostility from some local communities is complicating containment efforts. Health workers say attacks on medical teams and vehicles have become a recurring challenge. Dr Thierno Baldé, an incident manager with the WHO, said one of the response operation's ambulances was attacked in Bunia, describing such incidents as a regular threat to healthcare services. "Almost on a daily basis," Baldé said, health workers face reactions from communities struggling to cope with the disease and its consequences.
Health workers say community engagement is one of the biggest challenges in the response. They stress the need for residents to understand how Ebola spreads, recognize its symptoms and know where to seek help when someone falls ill. Dr Eddy Kambale Kahandukya of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said lack of community engagement is a major challenge in breaking transmission. Manon Dumortier of Mercy Corps said fear is a big driver of the lack of trust in the authorities' response.
For families already dealing with sick or dying relatives, fear and mistrust can make the situation even more difficult.
The virus and its spread
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. Trials for both are ongoing in Ituri province, the epicentre. The virus has spread to six of the DRC's 26 provinces, concentrated in the north-east, with more than 4,200 confirmed cases in Ituri alone.
Most new cases and deaths are being reported outside of people being monitored, indicating wider community transmission. Challenges also include strikes by some unpaid health workers, threats by rebel groups, anger from long-traumatised communities, territories difficult to reach due to bad roads, and misinformation asserting that Ebola isn't real.
Senior UN Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis said 160 healthcare workers had fallen ill with Ebola and 43 had died. He called for more aid, saying existing funds would run out within weeks.
Regional and international response
The outbreak has not been contained within the DRC. Uganda reported 20 Ebola cases and two deaths, all in Kampala, and declared the country Ebola-free on 28 July after the last Ebola patient, a Congolese national, was discharged on 16 July.
On Friday, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher announced an additional $30.5 million and the deployment of 20 more staff. "This is a wake-up call. We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us," he said.
Ebola is transmitted from wild animals and then between humans via direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people, including dead bodies. Initial symptoms can include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headaches and sore throat.