Ebola outbreak ‘growing faster, ⁠⁠wider’ as DRC death toll passes 2,500: UN

Epidemic in DR Congo remains out of control amid conflict, funding shortages and attacks on health workers and facilities.

The Ebola virus continues spreading “exponentially” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations has warned.

Sounding the alarm that the outbreak is “spreading faster and wider” than ever before, the UN’s Senior Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis reported that more than 2,500 people have now died.

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The official called for more funds to be put to work to try to control the spread, noting that the existing pool of money will run out within weeks.

Efforts to stem the epidemic since the outbreak began in May have faced several challenges.

Conflict and a lack of government control and infrastructure in the eastern DRC have disrupted the effort. Where health workers – many of whom have died after contracting the virus – and facilities are able to operate, they have come under attack by frustrated and frightened locals, Harneis said.

More than 260 attacks on health workers have been reported in the past six months, and eight health workers have been killed. More than 160 healthcare workers have fallen ill, with 43 dying.

Aid workers have said many locals believe conspiracy theories that the ⁠⁠outbreak is a hoax, and have reacted angrily when health restrictions prevent them from personally burying loved ones.

Efforts to control the outbreak have also been complicated by the lack of a vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which causes severe haemorrhagic fever.

Existing security concerns are also hampering the battle to stop the spread.

“All of this is happening in an area that has had three decades of ⁠⁠conflict and is generating huge humanitarian needs,” Harneis said.

The UN official warned the epidemic could spread to neighbouring countries without a ramped-up response, and urged more staffing and resources to reach remote areas.