The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading faster than health authorities can contain it and is on track to become the deadliest in history, according to the Aljazeera. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that at its current pace, the crisis will eclipse the 2014 to 2016 West African outbreak, which claimed more than 11,000 lives across roughly 28,000 cases.
Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo on Track to Become Deadliest on Record
Government data published overnight into Tuesday showed the outbreak has reached 4,381 confirmed cases, including 2,011 deaths. The virus is moving faster than any previous occurrence, taking about nine weeks to record the first 1,000 deaths before that figure doubled in just around three weeks. The outbreak carries a case fatality rate of 45.9 percent, surpassing the 39.6 percent rate recorded during the 2014 to 2016 epidemic.
Although the outbreak was formally declared on May 15, genetic sequencing later revealed that the virus actually began circulating in February after jumping from an infected animal to a person. A study published in brandonsun.com showed the virus is genetically different from versions seen in previous outbreaks involving the same strain in 2007 and 2012.
Challenges in Containment and Regional Conflict
The current epidemic is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which no approved vaccines or treatments currently exist. Containment efforts have been severely hampered by regional instability and ongoing conflict involving rebel groups near Congo’s borders with South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Health officials report that the outbreak has expanded across five eastern provinces, with the epicentre located in Ituri province. Poor infrastructure, bad roads, under-resourced and ill-equipped clinics, interrupted communications, and strikes by health workers over unpaid wages have slowed the emergency response. Furthermore, circulating misinformation within hostile communities wary of outsiders has kept many residents from visiting clinics or reporting symptoms early.
The outbreak had a big head start, still way ahead of us, and we’re playing catch-up,
Tedros said, noting that health workers are currently only reaching about 30 percent of cases due to regional dangers and logistical hurdles.
To curb the spread, authorities in eastern Congo have restricted public gatherings and shut the main airport in Ituri. Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, the World Health Organization’s director for health emergency alert and response operations, stated that the agency’s moderate projection has the outbreak peaking within six months, while a more severe scenario could cause the crisis to stretch from nine to 12 months.
Clinical Trials and Vaccine Development Underway
In the absence of approved countermeasures, clinical trials for potential treatments and vaccines have commenced in Ituri province. Two vaccines developed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus are being tested in people for the first time, and the World Health Organization also plans to test whether an existing Ebola vaccine can protect individuals after animal studies showed promising results.
Separately, the United Kingdom’s medicines regulator, the MHRA, has given permission for human trials of a vaccine created by a team from the University of Oxford using technology from the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine. Three other groups are also developing different vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain, though they have not yet entered clinical trials.
