Ebola outbreak in DR Congo becomes deadliest in country’s history

A top UN official says ‘speed, scale, and solidarity’ needed ‘before this virus gets even further ahead of us’.

The Ebola outbreak ‌in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has killed 2,325 people, surpassing the death toll ⁠from the 2018-2020 outbreak ⁠to become the deadliest in the country’s history.

The confirmed number of people infected with the virus has risen to 4,945, including 101 new cases detected in the previous ⁠24 hours, the DRC’s National Public Health Institute said in its latest report on Sunday.

“The outbreak is the fastest growing on record,” Tom Fletcher, the United Nations humanitarian chief, said in a statement on Friday. “We need speed, scale, and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.”

The outbreak, the DRC’s 17th, was already the biggest in the country’s history in terms of number of cases – a milestone reached in late July. The latest government data shows that the total number of deaths has ⁠surpassed the 2,299 deaths recorded in the 2018-2020 outbreak, which was previously the country’s worst on record.

“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We cannot let the virus outrun our response,” Fletcher said as he outlined the latest efforts to contain the virus.

On Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that at its current pace, the outbreak is on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016, a crisis that killed more than 11,000 people and accelerated the push to develop a vaccine.

The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, which has no approved vaccines or treatments. The outbreak has gained momentum since it was declared on May 15, as weak health infrastructure, the region’s remoteness, and ongoing conflict near the DRC’s borders with South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda have hindered response efforts.

The proportion of people dying from the outbreak after ⁠a confirmed infection, known as the case fatality ratio, has risen from about 20 percent ⁠in early June to 46 percent, according to government data, meaning nearly one in every two confirmed cases is now deadly.

“Normally, ⁠as an outbreak progresses, the case fatality ratio should fall as contact tracing improves and patients are identified and treated earlier,” said Thomas Parisch, a public health specialist ⁠deployed to the DRC with medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF.

“Instead, we’re still ⁠seeing many cases detected very late, when treatment is less likely to succeed, with many identified only after they die in the community.”

A small number of experimental vaccines and therapies are being evaluated, while global health authorities assess whether existing Ebola treatments could offer protection. Evidence so far ‌is limited to animal studies.