Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola Outbreak Kills 2,011 as Officials Say It’s Fastest-Growing

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed 2,011 people out of 4,381 confirmed cases, with Congolese officials saying the outbreak is the fastest-growing on record as health authorities struggle to reach remote localities.

“An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed 2,011 people out of 4,381 confirmed cases”

France 24

The outbreak was declared on May 15 but is thought to have already been spreading for several weeks, and France 24 reported that it took about nine weeks for the outbreak to record the first 1,000 deaths while it took just around three weeks for the figure to double.

Al Jazeera

France 24 also said the case fatality rate of the current outbreak is estimated by Congolese health authorities to be 45.9 percent, and it described the crisis as unfolding across the DRC’s conflict-plagued eastern and northeastern regions.

The World Health Organization said the outbreak started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, and PBS quoted WHO regional director for Africa Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi saying, "So we are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us."

PBS added that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start and that some early cases were wrongly attributed to other diseases, including malaria and typhoid, as responders in eastern Congo struggle to catch up.

WHO vaccine experts recommended on Friday a full-scale human trial of the only existing approved Ebola vaccine, and France 24 said the Ervebo vaccine has proved safe and efficient against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola virus.

France 24 reported that early data, notably from animal trials, showed Ervebo may also give some protection against the rare Bundibugyo strain exploding in the DRC, while it said two potential Bundibugyo vaccines are in the early stages of clinical trials on humans and a third is being worked on.

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PBS said the outbreak declared on May 15 is unlike most previous ones because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, and it described early testing for the more common type as contributing to delays.

In the same coverage, France 24 said many health workers have gone on strike to protest lack of payment for their work since the outbreak was declared, and it quoted Paul Hunter saying, "identifying cases early enough to prevent spread can be impossible" in a remote region with ongoing conflict.

PBS also reported that WHO assesses the global risk of spread as low because Ebola does not travel through the air, making it much harder to spread than respiratory viruses, while it noted that cases detected outside the affected region have so far been quickly identified and contained.

France 24 said the outbreak is the DR Congo’s 17th surge of the highly contagious disease and is already considered the largest in the country’s history "and could well become the largest outbreak ever", quoting Sania Nishtar, chief executive of the Gavi global vaccine alliance.

“"and could well become the largest outbreak ever", Sania Nishtar”

France 24

Le Monde reported that the symbolic threshold of 1,000 deaths had been surpassed on July 22 and that the latest tally released by Congolese authorities on Tuesday put the outbreak at 2,011 deaths and 4,381 confirmed cases.

Le Monde also quoted Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba saying, "We have not yet reached the peak," and it added that he asserted, "In the next three months, we think we will have already controlled the spread".

Le Monde said WHO experts recommended, on Friday, evaluating the Ervebo vaccine in a clinical trial due to the lack of a vaccine specifically for the Bundibugyo variant, and it reported that doses of Ervebo from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile should be made available to support clinical trials.

France 24 framed the immediate control challenge by quoting Paul Hunter that in the absence of an effective vaccine, control rests on identifying cases and nursing them in secure facilities until they recover or sadly perish, as health authorities work under conditions shaped by rebel conflict, bad roads and work stoppages over payment issues.