DRC reports 3,874 confirmed Ebola cases and 1,751 deaths

Congo's health ministry said data published overnight showed the country's Ebola outbreak had reached 3,874 confirmed cases and 1,751 deaths as of Monday. The figures were cited by multiple outlets on August 5 and August 6 as the latest official tally from Kinshasa. The outbreak has been described by the World Health Organization as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record and the second-largest overall after the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. (independent.co.uk) The virus involved is Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a strain for which WHO says there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. (apnews.com) ### How large is the outbreak now? The latest published ministry count put the outbreak at 3,874 confirmed cases and 1,751 deaths nationwide as of Monday. (biospace.com) ABC News, citing the Associated Press, reported on August 5 that confirmed cases were nearing 4,000, while other reports using the same ministry data said the death toll had passed 1,700. The outbreak was declared in mid-May, and WHO's outbreak page says cases have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said data reported by Congo are under continuous review and harmonisation, and said 51 of 140 health zones were affected across five provinces in its latest update. (independent.co.uk) ### Why are officials saying the response is falling behind? WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Kinshasa late Tuesday night and said on Wednesday that the outbreak was spreading faster than efforts to track and contain it. The Associated Press reported that he was scheduled to meet partners and President Félix Tshisekedi during his visit, his second since the outbreak was declared. (abcnews.com) AP also reported that some frontline health workers in Ituri, the outbreak's epicenter, had gone on strike over unpaid wages. The same reports said insecurity, weak contact tracing and difficult access in eastern Congo were straining the response in one of the country's most remote border regions near South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda. (independent.com.mt) ### Where is the outbreak concentrated? Al Jazeera reported on August 4 that nearly 90% of reported cases were concentrated in Ituri province. CDC's outbreak page said South Kivu had reported no confirmed cases since May 29, while fatalities rose rapidly in early July. (apnews.com) The ECDC said Haut-Uele had reported 63 cases and 38 deaths, and Tshopo had reported seven cases and five deaths, indicating spread beyond the main epicenter. Uganda had reported 20 confirmed cases and two deaths as of July 28, according to the same ECDC update, with no new Ugandan cases reported since June 21. ### What is known about the virus and available countermeasures? (apnews.com) WHO said the outbreak involves the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment currently approved. CDC likewise says the current outbreak is notable for its pace compared with the 2018 Congo outbreak, which took much longer to pass 1,000 cases. Moderna said on August 4 that the first participants had been vaccinated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in Canada evaluating mRNA-1469, an investigational vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus. (aljazeera.com) The company said the study is being conducted as part of an expanded collaboration with CEPI and is designed to evaluate safety and immune response. (ecdc.europa.eu) ### What happens next? Tedros was due to meet Congolese authorities and response partners in Kinshasa this week as WHO sought to scale up containment efforts. Congo's health ministry is expected to continue publishing updated case counts, while WHO, CDC and regional public-health agencies are tracking spread inside Congo and cross-border cases in Uganda. (who.int) Moderna's Phase 1 trial in Canada is now underway, with safety and immunogenicity data the next milestone identified by the company. (abcnews.com) (biospace.com)