Congo Ebola cases reach record first-month high – WHO

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recorded the highest number of confirmed cases within the first month of any outbreak of the disease, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Congo has reached 1,048 confirmed cases, including 267 deaths, with the number of infections surpassing 1,000 on Sunday for the first time since the outbreak began.

Health experts say the virus may have been circulating for months before authorities officially declared the outbreak on May 15, allowing transmission to expand before containment measures were fully activated.

Abdirahman Mahamud, a Senior WHO official, said the scale of the outbreak had been driven partly by its early spread into urban areas, including Bunia and the mining town of Mongbwalu.

Unlike many previous Ebola outbreaks, which were first detected in rural communities and often contained more quickly, the current outbreak gained a foothold in populated urban centres, increasing the risk of wider transmission.

“What is important is we need to scale up, and this outbreak is moving faster than us,” Mahamud told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

He said communities were becoming more aware of the risks posed by Ebola and were increasingly seeking support to protect themselves.

The outbreak has also spread into at least three crowded displacement camps in eastern Congo, raising concerns among health workers that population movements and difficult living conditions could complicate efforts to contain the virus.

Justin Zanamuzi, Director of Catholic Aid Organisation Caritas, which is supporting response activities at the Kigonze camp, said four children had died there since Monday, although test results were still pending to determine whether Ebola was responsible.

The current outbreak follows two of the largest Ebola epidemics previously recorded: the 2014–2016 West African outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which killed about 11,000 people, and the 2018 outbreak in Congo.

According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been more than 20 Ebola outbreaks across sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the continuing threat posed by the virus in the region.