Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo Reaches Alarming New Highs

A new Ebola treatment centre was inaugurated in Rwakole, Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo on August 4.

The country is now facing its deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, with public health officials confirming that over 2,300 people have lost their lives.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the current outbreak has been growing at an alarming rate, with the epidemic claiming a life every 30 minutes.

There is currently no approved vaccine available for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola that has caused this outbreak, but several are in development, including one based on technology used to develop the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The Institute of Public Health in DR Congo reported 4,945 confirmed cases, including 101 new cases in the previous 24 hours.

Outside of DR Congo, only a handful of cases have been identified: as of August 12, 20 cases were confirmed in Uganda, while two people were treated in Germany and one case was declared in France.

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The rapid spread of the virus in DR Congo has been described as 'exceptional'

According to Reuters, it took nearly five months for the world's deadliest Ebola outbreak in 2014-2016 to reach 1,000 fatalities - this current outbreak reached 2,000 deaths in less than three months.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak to occur in DR Congo since the disease was discovered 50 years ago. Years of conflict and a highly mobile population have made it challenging for the country to control the spread of the disease.

Why does DR Congo continue to struggle with disease outbreaks?

The WHO hopes to reverse the spread of the disease within three months, but warned that this would mean bringing transmission under control rather than ending the outbreak entirely.