KINSASHA, DR Congo – The Democratic Republic of Congo is battling its largest Ebola outbreak on record, with the death toll surpassing 2 000 people as the virus spreads through conflict-affected eastern regions.
Health authorities confirmed on Tuesday that 2 011 people have died from 4 381 confirmed cases since the outbreak was declared on 15 May. However, officials believe the virus had been spreading for weeks before the official declaration.
This marks the DRC’s 17th Ebola surge and is rapidly approaching the country’s deadliest outbreak between 2018 and 2020, which killed nearly 2 300 people from 3 500 recorded cases. Sania Nishtar, chief executive of the Gavi global vaccine alliance, warned the current crisis “could well become the largest outbreak ever”.
The outbreak started in northeastern Ituri province before spreading to several other provinces, particularly North Kivu. These regions have weak health infrastructure and limited state presence. The case fatality rate currently stands at 45.9%.
Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said the outbreak has not yet peaked. “Within the next three months, we expect to have already brought the spread under control and to start seeing it decline,” he said in an interview shared by his ministry on Tuesday.
Insecurity hampers containment efforts
Armed groups operating in the affected regions have made it difficult for health workers to reach infected communities. Local mistrust has further complicated response efforts.
Mohamed Yakub Janabi, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, revealed the true scale of the problem during a visit to Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, on Monday. “We are only seeing 30% of infected people, where 70% of people are dying at home. This is why this Ebola is different,” he told reporters.
Experts criticise response delays
Congolese virologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who helped discover Ebola in 1976, has criticised the handling of the outbreak. In an interview with Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday, he described the response as “slow and ineffective”.
“There is an internal problem at the level of the national coordination of the response,” Muyembe said. “Everyone wanted to show they were doing something, even though nothing had actually been organised.”
Vaccine trials continue
On Friday, WHO vaccine experts recommended a full-scale human trial of the only approved Ebola vaccine to test whether it offers protection against the current strain. The Ervebo vaccine has proven effective against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola virus, and early data from animal trials suggests it may also provide some protection against the rare Bundibugyo strain now spreading in the DRC.
The Gavi global vaccine alliance maintains a stockpile of 500 000 Ervebo doses, which will be made available for trials. Some doses have already reached the DRC. Two potential Bundibugyo vaccines are in early clinical trials on humans, while a third is being developed.
Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes haemorrhagic fever. The virus has killed more than 15 000 people across Africa over the past 50 years.
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