DRC Ebola Outbreak Kills Over 1,354 as Cases Surge 27% in 5 Days
- The DRC Ebola death toll crossed 1,354 in under 10 weeks, making it the fastest-spreading outbreak ever recorded
- The Bundibugyo variant driving the crisis has no approved vaccine or treatment, and a public health consultant warned it is spreading rapidly
- Healthcare workers at a major Ebola treatment centre in Bunia went on strike on Saturday over unpaid wages and unsafe conditions
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has climbed past 1,354, according to government figures released on Saturday, a rise of more than 40 percent in just five days and a pace that experts say has no parallel in the history of the disease.
Total confirmed cases, including deaths, now stand at 3,075, representing a 27 percent increase from the figure recorded the previous Saturday. The outbreak was declared in May, and it reached 1,000 deaths in under 10 weeks.
Source: Getty Images
According to Al Jazeera, by comparison, the 2013–2016 West Africa epidemic, which remains the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, killing more than 11,000 people from at least 28,000 cases across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, took roughly eight months to reach the same milestone.
No vaccine, no approved treatment
The strain behind the DRC outbreak is the Bundibugyo variant, the rarest of the four Ebola types known to infect humans. Unlike other variants, Bundibugyo currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Abdulsalami Nasidi, a public health consultant who helped establish the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Al Jazeera that the absence of a proven vaccine meant the virus was "spreading like a wildfire." He added that the epidemic was unfolding in an area of active conflict, which was deepening the shortage of public health resources already common across the region.
In a post on X last week, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya warned: "If we do not stop it today, this will become the worst outbreak the world has ever documented."
Scientists are working urgently to change that trajectory. The University of Oxford's Oxford Vaccine Group said on Friday that a volunteer had received the first dose of a rapidly developed experimental Bundibugyo vaccine. Chief investigator Katrina Pollock called it "an important milestone for the trial, and marks the next phase in our multinational collaborative journey to develop a Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine."
Health workers strike amid crisis
The response inside the DRC is under severe strain. More than 100 health workers have been infected since May, and around 35 have died. Shortages of protective equipment and, in some areas, community scepticism about whether the disease is real have added to the pressure on overstretched medical staff.
On Saturday, workers at the Elikya Ebola Treatment Centre in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, which is the epicentre of the outbreak, went on strike over unpaid bonuses and dangerous working conditions. About 100 staff held a protest outside the centre, and activities were largely brought to a halt.
"We need to be paid, because in the meantime the disease is spreading at the treatment centre," striking worker Martin Bolombi told The Associated Press. "I've already had five people die who are still inside there. A solution must be found for us."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the real case count could be more than double the official figure, as insecurity prevents responders from reaching all affected areas. He has called for a ceasefire in eastern DRC, arguing that without political action to open access, the virus risks spreading into provinces not yet affected.
Source: Getty Images
Ebola outbreak kills 65
Legit.ng earlier reported that an Ebola outbreak has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), with Africa’s top public health body confirming 65 deaths linked to the virus in the country’s eastern Ituri province.
Source: Legit.ng
