DR CONGO – More than 11,000 Ebola cases and 5,400 deaths have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) six months into the Bundibugyo virus outbreak, as insecurity and limited access to remote communities hamper containment efforts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners warned that ongoing conflict, population displacement and humanitarian challenges were preventing health workers from reaching affected communities, detecting infections early and delivering life-saving care.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the organisations said the outbreak was still recording between 400 and 500 new cases weekly and had spread to 67 health zones across eight provinces.
Children remain among the worst affected, accounting for more than a quarter of confirmed cases and one-third of reported deaths, according to WHO. The agency said seven in 10 children under five who contracted the virus had died.
WHO also reported that two-thirds of confirmed deaths occurred within communities, suggesting that many patients were being identified too late to receive timely treatment. Recent imported cases in Kenya and Nigeria have further raised concerns about the risk of cross-border transmission and the spread of the outbreak beyond DR Congo.
Despite these challenges, WHO said response efforts had helped contain transmission in several early outbreak hotspots. The agency identified Mongbwalu, Nyankunde, Nizi, Rwampara and Butembo as locations where rapid transmission had been halted. In Bunia, another major outbreak centre, new cases had reportedly declined by half, while treatment centres were recording low occupancy rates.
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