As Ebola races through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s most lethal outbreak on record has crossed another grim threshold: more than 3,000 deaths.
The epidemic, concentrated in the conflict-scarred east and northeast, has now killed 3,007 people and sickened 6,186, the Congolese National Institute of Public Health reported in its latest official update released today.
Officials put the fatality rate at 48.6%, while 1,409 people have recovered, the institute said.
Health authorities warn the virus is spreading at a pace not seen before, outstripping efforts to trace contacts and contain transmission.
Multiple factors have driven the outbreak’s rapid expansion, including persistent conflict, repeated attacks on health workers, the constant movement of miners and a weak health system that struggles to reach many communities.
The reopening of schools amid the crisis has added another layer of concern, with fears that crowded classrooms could accelerate transmission.
The virus has moved into six provinces, tearing through areas where state authority is limited and insecurity remains widespread because of armed groups operating in the region.
Meanwhile, the health response has been stretched beyond capacity by the surge in infections, hampered by insufficient resources and weighed down by deep mistrust in parts of the community.
A health worker takes a woman’s temperature as part of Ebola screening efforts in Goma
Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can cause haemorrhagic fever. Over the past 50 years, the disease has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa.
No approved vaccine
This outbreak began in the remote northeastern province of Ituri and is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
Several vaccines and treatments are under testing, but the only approved vaccines are designed for the Zaire strain—the variant behind the largest-known Ebola outbreak to date.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended moving ahead with a phase three clinical trial using the Ervebo vaccine, which has been deployed against the Zaire strain.
WHO experts say it is still not clear whether Ervebo protects humans against Bundibugyo, though early data indicates it may provide some degree of protection.
A shipment of 16,250 doses intended for frontline medical workers arrived in DR Congo at the end of last month, and vaccinations began soon after in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province in the northeast.
The WHO has said the current outbreak is on course to surpass the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded—the West Africa epidemic from 2014 to 2016, which killed about 11,000 people.
