The Ebola epidemic ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially become the second largest outbreak ever recorded, with confirmed cases surpassing 3,500 and deaths climbing past 1,550. The milestone was confirmed by the DRC Ministry of Communication and Media on Friday, marking a grim turning point in a crisis that officials warn is spreading faster than any previous Ebola epidemic. Carl Skau, acting head of the United Nations World Food Programme, did not mince words when describing the urgency of the situation. “It’s the fastest spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen,” he told Reuters. “The world needs to pay much more attention.”
Only the devastating 2014 to 2016 West African outbreak, which claimed more than 11,000 lives across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, remains larger. What makes this outbreak particularly alarming is its velocity. According to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, less than three months into this outbreak the disease had already killed five times as many people as previous outbreaks had by the same stage. The virus has now spread across five provinces including Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo. Making matters worse is the fact that this outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
Health workers on the ground are fighting not just the virus but an array of obstacles that have severely hampered containment efforts. Eastern DRC is home to dozens of armed groups whose attacks on medical facilities have put both staff and patients at risk. Foreign aid cuts have stretched already thin resources even further while deep mistrust of authorities among local populations continues to undermine public health outreach. Angele Gapio who heads emergencies for Caritas in Bunia said awareness campaigns are failing and front line responders are utterly exhausted. “People continue to seek treatment from traditional healers and the chain of transmission continues,” she said.
Perhaps most troubling are suggestions from the World Health Organization that official figures may dramatically understate reality. WHO indicated earlier this month that the true scale could be up to four times higher than reported numbers suggest. Meanwhile Africa CDC revised its funding needs upward significantly saying containing the outbreak will require roughly one point four billion dollars three times its earlier estimate. With more than 800 patients currently isolated or hospitalized and community transmission showing little sign of slowing experts fear the window for relatively straightforward containment may already be closing unless international attention matches the scale of what is unfolding on the ground.