Ebola death toll in DRC surges to at least 930 as outbreak gathers pace

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing the Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry and reporting from AFP and Reuters, reported that the death toll in the country’s latest Ebola outbreak has climbed to at least 930. The ministry said Monday that confirmed infections had reached at least 2,344 as of Saturday, after 37 deaths were logged in a 24-hour period from Friday. The outbreak was declared on May 15.

The World Health Organization has warned that the virus is advancing in the DRC more quickly than in any earlier outbreak there. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the 2018-2020 DRC outbreak took more than 10 months to pass 2,000 confirmed cases, while the current outbreak reached that level in about two months. He also said the real number of cases could be at least twice the official count and described the event as the third-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

The outbreak was first identified after deaths in Ituri, a northeastern province affected by armed groups. Al Jazeera reported that cases have been detected in five DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, though Tedros said Uganda is close to being considered free of the virus. In Ituri, the response has also been strained by a strike by healthcare workers at Bunia General Hospital over unpaid compensation since the outbreak began.

Ebola spreads through close contact with infected bodily fluids, making rapid case detection, isolation and contact tracing central to controlling transmission. Tedros said more than 80 percent of new cases were being found outside known contact lists, suggesting missed transmission chains. The ministry said 724 patients were in hospital isolation and that response efforts were being intensified, with 22 new recoveries recorded in 24 hours.