DRC: Two months on, Ebola outbreak is fastest growing on record
Two months after it was officially declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the current Ebola disease outbreak has become the third largest Ebola outbreak and the fastest growing on record.
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling for an urgent scale-up of the medical response.
The epidemic, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, continues to spread at an unprecedented pace and into new areas, while efforts to control it remain insufficient.
In just two months, the number of confirmed cases has tripled, from 650 to more than 2,000 as of 12 July, while the number of deaths has increased more than fivefold, from 130 to over 700.
“Every delay costs lives,” says Trish Newport, MSF emergency programme manager.
“We are still chasing the outbreak instead of staying ahead of it. More people become infected, more families lose loved ones, and the epidemic becomes harder to contain.”
“We need stronger, more coordinated international action to move faster and improve access to both Ebola care and other essential health services.”
“At the Ebola Treatment Centre, we continue to see patients arriving in critical condition, with little chance of survival”
The epidemic has already exceeded half the number of cases recorded during the DRC’s 2018–2020 Ebola outbreak, which lasted almost two years.
The situation is particularly alarming, as the outbreak continues to spread to new areas.
Limited access to medical care, an overstretched surveillance system, and increasing pressure on treatment centres mean that entire communities outside of cities remain without adequate support.
MSF is therefore calling on health authorities and humanitarian organisations to swiftly increase resources across all aspects of the Ebola response.
This includes community engagement, surveillance, testing and diagnosis, patient care, survivor support, and the safe and dignified management of bodies and burials, while ensuring that other urgent health needs are also addressed.
Our work saves lives
Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, accounts for approximately 90 per cent of all confirmed cases.
“In Mongbwalu, we are seeing the deadly human consequences of these gaps every day,” says Ayokunnu Raji, medical doctor and MSF Medical Program Manager.
“At the Ebola Treatment Centre, we continue to see patients arriving in critical condition, with little chance of survival. Since MSF started its Ebola response activities, we have treated 57 survivors, but more than 110 patients have died. Increased national and international resources would help prevent further transmission and loss of life.”
“In Bunia, the 90-bed Elikiya Ebola Treatment Centre is almost always operating at full capacity,” says Sylvie Kaczmarczyk, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Bunia.
“People regularly tell us they prefer to wait at home and come only when a bed becomes available,”
“As a result, we continue to receive patients who arrive late and are already critically ill. It is devastating to know that many of these deaths could have been prevented through earlier diagnosis and timely access to care and treatment.”
Bringing the response closer to communities
While other medical organisations are working alongside the Ministry of Health in eastern DRC, significant gaps remain.
DRC’s surveillance system is designed to detect cases early through strong community networks and the local health system. However, the current Ebola disease outbreak, combined with multiple other disease threats, has pushed the system to its limits.
The key to slowing and ultimately stopping the spread of the epidemic is to bring the response closer to communities while boosting the medical response and surveillance system, so that cases can be identified and isolated as early as possible.
Other challenges include border closures, self-monitoring requirements, and measures affecting humanitarian personnel applied by authorities in DRC and other countries.
MSF currently runs seven ETCs and more than 15 isolation units across Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo provinces, with a combined capacity of more than 430 beds. Since the beginning of the outbreak and up to 14 July, MSF teams had admitted more than 968 patients, including 357 confirmed cases.
MSF has also supported the recovery of 116 survivors following treatment and care. In addition, MSF supports the Ministry of Health with surveillance and detection activities, community engagement, training, and efforts to ensure safe access to other essential healthcare services.
Ebola: a crisis amid multiple emergencies
The Ebola outbreak is unfolding in a context of armed conflict, displacement and other health emergencies such as cholera and malaria. The approaching rainy season is also expected to drive a surge in malaria cases, placing further strain on an already overstretched health system.
It is crucial to accelerate efforts to improve access to Ebola care while ensuring the provision of other basic humanitarian assistance, including healthcare, water, and sanitation.
“We cannot continue responding to the epidemic with the same limited resources while it continues to outpace us,” says Newport.
“Only a robust, adequately resourced medical response that truly reflects the scale of needs on the ground can prevent this outbreak from becoming a crisis beyond our ability to contain. To achieve that, expanded international support is urgently needed.”
MSF and Ebola
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), MSF teams are on the ground treating patients and working to contain the rapid spread of this Ebola disease outbreak.
We are leading experts in treating and containing Ebola. Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was on the frontline throughout the massive 2014-16 West Africa epidemic, and has responded to multiple outbreaks in the DRC alone.