The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a stark warning on Saturday, highlighting that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is “intensifying at an exceptional pace” and urged a significant boost in the health response. Congolese authorities have recorded a total of 3,874 confirmed cases, leading to 1,751 deaths, since the epidemic first emerged. This outbreak is rapidly approaching the severity of the country’s deadliest previous epidemic, which claimed nearly 2,300 lives among 3,500 recorded cases between 2018 and 2020.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, arrived in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, on Tuesday. He was scheduled to engage in discussions with Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi on Wednesday.
The head of the WHO had previously visited Ituri province in the northeast in late May, an area identified as the epicenter of the current epidemic, accounting for nearly 90% of all reported cases. This particular outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo variant, for which no specific vaccine or treatment is currently available. The disease is predominantly affecting regions characterized by a fragile state presence and severely under-resourced healthcare infrastructure.
“The epidemic regrettably continues to spread at a rate that overwhelms current response capabilities,” stated Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesperson, during a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. He called for “additional financial support” and resources to strengthen critical areas such as “treatment capacities, field investigation teams, and safe burial teams.”
Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, has tragically claimed over 15,000 lives across Africa in the past five decades. The ongoing epidemic has expanded its reach over the last two months, affecting five provinces within the DRC: Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Haut-Uélé, and Tshopo.
On Tuesday, Canada granted authorization for the American pharmaceutical giant Moderna to initiate clinical trials for a vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. Furthermore, the vaccine identified by the WHO as “the most promising,” known as “rVSV Bundibugyo,” is also slated for development by Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories.
In late July, the first volunteer received a dose of another Bundibugyo vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, which utilizes technology similar to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. Several other initiatives are also underway to rapidly test various treatments against the Bundibugyo strain, including the antiviral drugs remdesivir and obeldesivir, as well as a monoclonal antibody designated MBP134.
The DRC officially declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15, several weeks after its initial detection across its vast territory, home to over 100 million inhabitants.
