Ebola Outbreak in DRC Continues as Deaths Reach 3,779

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reports that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still ongoing. So far, there have been 7,820 cases and 3,779 deaths across the country.

Wessam Mankoula, the regional director at the Northern Africa Regional Coordinating Centre of Africa CDC, shared this information during a webinar on Thursday about the Ebola outbreak and response efforts in the DRC.

Mr Mankoula explained that the outbreak has impacted 63 health zones in seven provinces. Currently, 49 health zones are still active and continue to report cases while response operations are underway.

He mentioned that eight health zones have reached a controlled phase, while six others have reported no cases for specific periods and are also in a controlled phase.

He noted that there has been a plateau in the outbreak over the last five weeks. This is partly due to fewer cases in Ituri, the epicentre of the outbreak, and nearby areas.

But he warned that this decline should not be seen as a sign that the outbreak is under control. Some provinces are still showing rising trends in the number of cases.

Mr Mankoula said that cases in Ituri have dropped by 25 percent in the last three weeks, and deaths have decreased by 31 percent compared to the previous three weeks.

In contrast, North Kivu has seen an increase in cases by 56 percent and deaths by 19 percent during the same period.

He pointed out that North Kivu has the highest case-fatality rate at about 60.5 percent, while the national average is around 48 percent during this outbreak.

Mr Mankoula attributed this situation to insecurity and limited access to affected communities. This makes it hard for health workers to conduct active case searches and contact tracing.

He mentioned that children under five years are among the most affected, which has led to collaboration with UNICEF to improve case management for young patients in the region.

He added that community transmission remains a significant issue, with about 65 percent of reported cases coming from communities. This requires better engagement and deployment of community health workers in these areas.

Mr Mankoula said that the number of contacts listed has improved from about 10 contacts per case at the start of the outbreak to around 20 per case in the affected areas now.

However, he stressed that this figure is still below the target of 60 contacts per case, highlighting the need to enhance contact tracing and community-based surveillance throughout the country.

The Africa CDC official also noted that the response has increased laboratory capacity. Now, 24 laboratories can perform over 3,400 tests daily in the affected areas.

He added that more laboratory equipment and over 100,000 test kits have been sent to improve testing in affected and nearby areas, supporting the overall response efforts.