Confirmed Ebola cases in DRC top 11,000, second-largest outbreak on record

[Financial News] The Ebola outbreak sweeping the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has surpassed 11,000 confirmed cases, putting it on track to become the second-worst outbreak on record.
According to the DRC’s National Institute of Public Health (INSP) and major international news outlets on the 11th local time, as of the 9th the DRC had recorded a cumulative 11,042 confirmed Ebola cases and 5,387 deaths. In just a fortnight after the number of cases passed 10,000, about 1,000 new infections were reported, and the fatality rate has reached a staggering 48.8%. A total of 2,990 people have recovered, while 973 remain in treatment facilities. However, with most deaths occurring outside treatment centers, the actual toll is feared to be higher.
The current Ebola outbreak is the second-largest on record, after the 2014–2016 West African epidemic, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000. It has already surpassed the scale of the DRC’s worst previous outbreak, in 2018–2020, which recorded 3,500 cases and about 2,300 deaths. The outbreak, which began in mid-May in northeastern Ituri Province, has spread rapidly to eight of the country’s 26 provinces, including North Kivu.
Long-standing local conflicts and distrust of medical personnel, among other security problems, are major factors behind the rapid spread. On the 8th, young people set fire to an Ebola treatment center in Lolwa, Ituri Province, and clashes between militias temporarily halted the health response in the Pataki area. Strikes over unpaid wages for disease-control workers, combined with poor infrastructure, have also led to concerns that efforts to contain the outbreak are reaching their limits.
Another problem is that there is no approved vaccine or treatment for the “Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus” currently circulating. Health authorities believe the Ervebo vaccine, developed for the “Zaire strain” of Ebola, has a cross-protective effect in preventing cases from becoming severe. They have administered emergency vaccinations to 21,866 people and plan to launch full-scale human clinical trials with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Meanwhile, the situation in neighboring countries appears to be coming under control. Uganda, which recorded 20 cases and two deaths, was declared free of the outbreak by WHO at the end of August. In Kenya, where nine cases and two deaths were reported, the last patient was discharged today; the country will declare the outbreak over if there are no further confirmed cases over the next six weeks. Nigeria has also reported no additional cases beyond one imported case.
[email protected] Ji-hyun Park Reporter