The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has arrived in Congo to bolster efforts against the world’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak, which has now seen confirmed cases approach 4,000.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus landed in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, on Tuesday night. He is scheduled to meet with partners and president Félix Tshisekedi during his second visit to the country since the outbreak was declared in mid-May.
As of Monday, the outbreak had reached 3,874 cases, resulting in 1,751 deaths, according to the latest data from Congo’s Ministry of Health.
This current outbreak has surpassed all previous Ebola events in terms of transmission rate, making it the second-largest on record, only behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that saw over 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.
The Bundibugyo virus, responsible for the current crisis, has no approved treatment or vaccine, and local officials believe it had been spreading in a remote part of eastern Congo long before its official declaration on 15 May.
A significant challenge is that most new cases are being identified outside the monitored contact lists, indicating the virus is spreading faster than the response can contain it.
In Ituri province, the epicentre accounting for nearly 90 per cent of cases, many areas remain inaccessible due to ongoing rebel conflict.
Furthermore, health workers have staged strikes over unpaid wages earlier this week, amid claims that the government has not paid salaries and allowances that are nearly three months overdue. However, some workers have since reported receiving their payments.
Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, noted during a visit to Bunia, Ituri’s capital, that contact tracing is failing, with 60-70 per cent of new cases emerging from outside the contact list.
"We need to be innovative on the way to approach the contact list," Dr Kaseya stated.
Late detection of cases remains a critical factor contributing to the 45 per cent fatality rate, with 44 deaths reported among the 77 new cases in the previous 24 hours. Currently, 717 patients are in isolation, while 749 have recovered.
