Ebola has now claimed more than 1,500 lives in eastern Congo, marking a grim milestone in what health officials are calling the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease on record. According to government data released Thursday, 3,442 cases have been recorded since the outbreak was declared on May 15, with 1,521 deaths confirmed as of Tuesday. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the sharp increase partly reflects a backlog of cases that had gone unrecorded, but the numbers still underscore how quickly the emergency is outpacing response efforts on the ground.
The outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments, complicating an already difficult situation. Nearly 90 percent of cases have been concentrated in Ituri province, though infections have spread to five provinces overall, including the major city of Kisangani. Response teams have faced a cascade of obstacles, from delays in contact tracing and difficulty reaching remote communities to deep mistrust among residents and violence from armed groups. The combination has severely hampered the ability of health workers to contain the virus.
Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya said Thursday that 63 percent of confirmed deaths over the past two weeks occurred outside of treatment centers, largely due to unsafe handling of infected bodies during traditional burials. In some communities, funeral practices involve touching the deceased, which is highly contagious given that Ebola spreads through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. Restrictions on these ceremonies, combined with widespread misinformation claiming the virus is not real, have fueled anger and led to attacks on health facilities. In Ituri’s Nyakunde health zone, international partners including Africa CDC and Mercy Corps were forced to temporarily relocate after a July 15 attack on a hospital and treatment center following a patient’s death, disrupting surveillance, contact tracing, and critical supply lines.
Pierre Akilimali, Ebola response incident manager at Congo’s National Public Health Institute, said workers are operating under immense pressure as they face both the threat of infection and risks to their personal safety. Local officials say security has since stabilized and they are urging partner organizations to return, with Africa CDC indicating teams could redeploy as early as next week. But supplies left behind by foreign aid groups are nearly depleted, according to Dr. Désiré Duabo, chief medical officer for the Nyakunde health zone, who warned that remaining stocks cannot sustain operations much longer.
While the World Health Organization maintains that global risk remains low because Ebola does not spread through airborne transmission, it classifies the risk within Congo as very high. Cases detected outside affected regions so far have been quickly identified and contained without sustained transmission. Neighboring Uganda declared itself free of Ebola on Tuesday after discharging its last patient last month. Still, this outbreak has killed more people at a faster rate than any previous one, surpassing milestones that took months longer during the devastating 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa.