The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is spreading at an unprecedented rate and has become the deadliest in the country’s history after the number of deaths exceeded 2,300 in just three months, surpassing the toll of the 2018–2020 outbreak.
Last week, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, warned that this epidemic “is the fastest ever recorded” and “takes one life every 30 minutes.”
Currently, there is no available vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo variant, which caused this outbreak. The epidemic originated in Ituri in the northeast of the country and is actively spreading through the eastern and northeastern provinces, where state presence is weak and medical infrastructure remains underdeveloped.
Deaths outside treatment centers
Flaviera Ngurima‘s brother died shortly before reaching the treatment center (TC) in Ituri, one of the main epicenters of the epidemic. “We called a trusted nurse to care for him at home because he and his relatives were afraid to go to the TC. They said many people die there,” says Flaviera Ngurima.
This is not an isolated case. In the area of Djugu in Ituri, people believe that “it is poisoning or other diseases,” explains local leader Jean-Paul Malo Lotsima. Because of this, families bring patients to the hospital only “at the last moment, when they see the situation worsening. Sometimes they die on the way.”
Mohamed Janabi, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, states that “more than 70% of people die in the community” rather than in treatment centers.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in DRC history
To date, the outbreak has resulted in 2,325 deaths and 4,945 confirmed cases, exceeding the mortality figures of the 2018–2020 epidemic in eastern DRC, which caused 2,299 deaths and 3,381 confirmed cases.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in the first months of this outbreak, there were also seven times more infections and five times more deaths than in the first three months of the worst Ebola epidemic in history, which affected West Africa in 2014.
In Bunia, the capital of Ituri, where about 90% of cases have been recorded since mid-May, measures to combat the epidemic are almost invisible despite the urgency of the situation. Meanwhile, people continue to gather in markets, not paying due attention to protective measures, noted an AFP correspondent.
“Community participation in the response remains insufficient,” says Janabi.
Neighboring Uganda has recorded 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths, but in mid-July declared that it no longer has active cases of the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that it expects to stop the growth of the Ebola epidemic in the DRC within three months.
