WHO says Ebola spreading fast

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on August 5 that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was spreading faster than the response could scale up, during a visit to Kinshasa. The World Health Organization chief said the outbreak was outpacing efforts to track and contain it and called for a much larger response. WHO has said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, was confirmed in May in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Aid workers in Congo have also staged strikes over pay, adding to pressure on the response. ### How large is the outbreak now? WHO said on July 30 that 3,605 confirmed cases and 1,587 deaths had been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a crude case fatality ratio of 44%. The agency said the outbreak had expanded from Ituri province to five provinces — Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé and Tshopo — and was affecting 49 health zones. WHO described it as the largest Ebola outbreak ever reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (msn.com) The outbreak was initially confined to the Mongbwalu health zone in Ituri Province, according to WHO’s disease-outbreak notice. Over two months, the agency said, transmission spread across eastern parts of the country in a setting marked by insecurity, population movement and a humanitarian crisis. WHO said those conditions were complicating surveillance, contact tracing and clinical management. (who.int) ### What exactly did Tedros say is failing to keep up? Tedros said the outbreak was spreading faster than the response could scale up and that efforts had to be “urgently and massively” increased across all parts of the operation. The Telegraph reported that new cases had doubled in some hotspots over the past week. Associated Press, as carried by U.S. News, reported that the outbreak was still spreading faster than efforts to track it. (who.int) WHO has said it is supporting the Congolese and Ugandan governments with surveillance, contact tracing, clinical preparedness, supply delivery and community engagement. But the agency has also said the Bundibugyo species involved in this outbreak has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, though candidate products are being tested. ### Why does the Bundibugyo strain matter here? WHO said the outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus disease, a species of Ebola for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. (telegraph.co.uk) That distinguishes it from outbreaks caused by the Zaire species, for which licensed tools exist. WHO said research on promising vaccine and treatment candidates is ongoing. The agency declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17 covering Bundibugyo ebolavirus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, according to WHO’s Africa regional office. (who.int) WHO said the outbreak in Congo is the country’s 17th since the virus was first identified in 1976. ### How are strikes and local conditions affecting the response? Aid workers in Congo have staged strikes over pay, according to Associated Press reporting carried by U.S. (who.int) News and reflected in other coverage of Tedros’s visit. Those labor disruptions have come as response teams try to keep pace with rising case counts and wider geographic spread. (afro.who.int) WHO has said the outbreak is unfolding in a remote and densely populated area affected by insecurity and heavy cross-border movement. Earlier reporting from the Telegraph said police were deployed to protect health workers and treatment centers after attacks on facilities, underscoring the operational strain facing responders. ### What happens next? WHO said its response in Congo and Uganda is focused on surveillance, contact tracing, clinical care, supply delivery, community engagement and cross-border preparedness. (usnews.com) The agency has also continued issuing outbreak updates through its emergency pages and Disease Outbreak News notices. As of July 30, WHO said transmission was still increasing, and Tedros’s August 5 appeal was for more support to scale up the response. (who.int)