Ebola spreading faster than response in DRC, UN warns

The UN has warned that the global response to Ebola must urgently outpace the virus as deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) approach 3,000.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the outbreak was expanding faster than containment efforts, in spite of a significant scale-up by humanitarian agencies and Congolese authorities.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, or contaminated materials, making early detection and isolation critical to breaking transmission chains.

“The response is growing and has been scaled up, but the virus is moving faster,” Fletcher said.

“And unless we scale up urgently, more lives will be lost and the threat will grow.”

DRC authorities had reported more than 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths by Monday, with over 5,000 infections recorded in Ituri Province alone.

The figures underline the exceptional speed of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, declared in DRC on May 15.

The current outbreak is spreading at a substantially faster rate than one of the deadliest Ebola emergencies previously recorded during the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

Fletcher said containing the epidemic would require sustained political commitment, unrestricted humanitarian access and significantly increased international financing.

“We have the experience, the tools and extraordinary people risking their lives to stop this epidemic. What we need now is political will, access and resources,,” he said.

The UN relief chief urged governments to ensure humanitarian workers could reach affected communities, particularly in areas where insecurity and weak infrastructure complicate response efforts.

He also called on the international community to keep Ebola high on the global agenda to prevent the virus from spreading further.

A funding shortfall of about 1.1 billion dollars remains, limiting the ability of humanitarian agencies to expand surveillance, treatment, community mobilisation and cross-border preparedness.

Fletcher said his agency has allocated more than 57 million dollars from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to support response and preparedness efforts in DR Congo and neighbouring countries.

He said closing the funding gap and stopping further spread would ultimately depend on whether governments and international partners match technical capacity with political commitment.

The UN maintains that the tools to contain Ebola are already available, however, it warns that delayed financing, restricted access and insufficient coordination could allow transmission to outpace response efforts.

The World Health Organisation recently declared Uganda’s latest Ebola outbreak over following rapid detection, contact tracing, isolation, clinical care, infection prevention and strengthened surveillance.

“We have beaten Ebola before, and we can do it again,” Fletcher said.

The UN International Organization for Migration has, meanwhile, conducted nearly 23 million health screenings in DRC and neighbouring countries.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the “screenings were helping authorities monitor population movements, identify possible cases and reduce cross-border transmission risks.”

NAN