Archive photo (Photo: John Wessels/AFP)
The deadly Ebola outbreak reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in May has already claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus is spreading faster than during any previous Ebola outbreak in the past month, despite intensified efforts to contain it.
The WHO confirmed on Wednesday that 2,473 Ebola cases, which include 999 deaths, have already been confirmed in the DRC. In neighboring Uganda, 20 cases have been reported, of which two people have died.
The DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak was declared on 15 May after several people died in the northeastern province of Ituri. Although cases have since been reported in four other provinces, Ituri remains the epicenter of the outbreak.
This mineral-rich province has been plagued by armed groups for years, making it extremely difficult to track down people who may have been exposed to the virus.
Trish Newport, director of emergency programs for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Bunia, says contact tracing requires “enormous resources”.
“We work in one of the poorest parts of the country, where violence and instability are part of the daily reality. This makes it incredibly difficult to trace every person who has come into contact with an infected person.”
According to Newport, some victims are still buried by their families without the necessary protective measures, allowing the virus to spread further.
“A single death can lead to 17 new infections. When people without protective equipment touch a deceased person, the virus can quickly spread in families and communities.”
Residents live in fear
Although the streets of Bunia are still busy, residents say they live with constant uncertainty.
Heritier Bomengo, a taxi driver in Bunia, tells how the outbreak affected his community.
“I saw three members of the same family die within one week. It scared me terribly.”
He says he and many of his colleagues now carry hand sanitizer everywhere.
Most of the Ebola cases confirmed in Uganda were from Congolese nationals who crossed the border. However, according to the Ugandan authorities, no new cases have been reported in this country in the past three weeks.
‘Unprecedented pace’
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, warned last week that the virus has “spread faster than any previous Ebola outbreak” in the past month.
Thierno Balde, the WHO’s manager of the response to the bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the DRC, says that although the organization has intensified its actions, the virus is still spreading faster than it can be contained.
“Although we have stepped up our response, we are still catching up. We are doing everything possible to limit the spread of the virus.”
No vaccine available yet
The outbreak is caused by the bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
However, the WHO says there is “encouraging progress” with clinical trials of two possible treatments, a vaccine and a preventive agent that can be administered after possible exposure to the virus.
If these trials are successful, this could become the first specific treatment and vaccine for the bundibugyo tribe.