UN Reports 676 Cases in Congo Ebola Outbreak
One month into the congo ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations said 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths had been reported. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, is concentrated in Ituri province.
For families in Bunia and other hard-hit parts of Ituri, the figures now sit alongside a response still wrestling with shortages, slower testing and violence that has kept people away from care.
Ituri Province Takes The Brunt
The United Nations said the overwhelming majority of the cases and deaths were in Ituri province. The World Health Organization said the number of victims was roughly doubling every week, a pace that has left frontline workers trying to keep up with isolation, tracing and safe burials at the same time.
Frontline workers said they were still battling shortages of personal protective equipment and vehicles to transport dead bodies. Testing had improved, but workers said it still needed to be done faster and nearer to patients. Those gaps leave health teams moving more slowly than the virus.
Babou Rukengeza In Bunia
Dr Babou Rukengeza, Save the Children’s Ebola response lead in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, described the outbreak as devastating and said children and staff at the orphanage were being monitored for symptoms. He said, “It’s really, really devastating.”
A newborn baby taken in by an orphanage in Bunia after his mother died from Ebola survived for only another two weeks, and four of the nuns who cared for the baby later fell sick with Ebola. The case put a name and a place to the outbreak’s cost inside the provincial capital.
Misinformation has added to the pressure in the worst-hit areas of Ituri, where people have been avoiding hospitals and care that could save their lives. Conflict has continued there, and there have been attacks on aid workers and treatment centres, slowing the response in the same places where teams need access most.
Uganda And African Leaders
In neighbouring Uganda, health officials said intensive tracing of contacts had kept the outbreak under control. Uganda had reported 19 cases and two deaths, a much smaller total than the Democratic Republic of the Congo but still part of the same regional response.
Twenty-two countries, including the United States, had imposed travel restrictions on people coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan. African leaders were due to meet virtually on Tuesday to discuss the outbreak and make funding commitments, while local leaders in Ituri pressed for more visible support on the ground.
Gratien Iracan, the local MP for the provincial capital, Bunia, posted last week that “Despite the millions of dollars announced by the international community to support the response to Ebola, these resources are not yet sufficiently visible on the ground in Ituri.” He also described the reaction to a promised response that did not arrive as “incomprehension, anger and concern.”
