DRC Ebola Outbreak Fastest Growing Ever, Africa CDC Warns

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the fastest-growing ever, according to Africa’s top public health agency – and is spreading faster than the response can keep pace with.

"We need to surge our response, and surging our response means financial resources, human resources," said Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness and response for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

He urged donors to “fast-track the disbursement of those resources” as the virus continues to spread and enters new provinces, including one case in Kisangani with no known epidemiological link to the existing outbreak. It has raised fears of undetected chains of transmission.

It comes as doctors, nurses and community health workers on the frontlines of the crisis went on strike this week, citing lack of pay and poor working conditions such as insufficient protective supplies.

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, has now killed at least 600 people and there have been 1,759 confirmed cases, with more likely to have gone unrecorded.

Unlike the Zaire strain responsible for previous major epidemics, the Bundibugyo variant has no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Health authorities are reliant on surveillance, isolation, contact tracing and supportive care.

More than 10,000 people who have been in contact with infected people are being monitored, with a follow-up rate of 82 per cent – well short of the 95 per cent needed to get on top of the outbreak, according to the World Health Organisation.

Trials of two potential treatments for Bundibugyo began earlier this month, looking at the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir.

A handful of cases were also reported in Uganda, but all were linked to travel from the DRC and there have been no new infections recorded since June 21.

Africa CDC is seeking an additional US$18 million to fund the clinical trials and strengthen surveillance, laboratory capacity and case management.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher also called for the international community to accelerate its response, warning that the world "must move faster" to contain the outbreak before it spreads further.

Before Ebola struck, millions were already facing “conflict, hunger, displacement, weak basic services and limited healthcare," he said. "DRC is one of the world’s most complex humanitarian crises. Recent cuts in humanitarian funding have made the response even harder.” As well as sweeping US and global aid cuts, the response has also been hampered by misinformation in the community that has bred distrust of health care workers.

Separately, migrants deported from the US and detained in a hotel in Equatorial Guinea have alleged that authorities used the same facility to quarantine at least one suspected Ebola patient.

Lawyers representing the detainees said medical staff wearing full protective equipment brought suspected patients into the hotel, raising fears among those being held there, although Equatorial Guinea has not reported any confirmed Ebola cases.