The World Health Organization convened its International Health Regulations Emergency Committee again on Aug. 18, saying the outbreak remains far from being brought under control.
According to the WHO Regional Office for Africa, the country has reported 5,021 confirmed cases and 2,378 deaths, putting the case fatality rate at 47.4%.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak had gained a significant head start and that the response was still struggling to catch up.
A major concern is that many infected people are dying at home or elsewhere in the community rather than in health facilities. Some were also not listed among known contacts, making tracing efforts more difficult.
This outbreak is being driven not by the better-known Zaire ebolavirus, but by Bundibugyo virus disease, a strain first identified in Uganda in 2007.
Unlike the Zaire strain, there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease, leaving health authorities with fewer tools to contain transmission.
WHO has pointed to insecurity, population displacement and frequent movement along roads, rivers and mining routes as key factors behind the rapid spread.
Cases have also been detected beyond the DR Congo. Infections have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda, while a U.S. aid worker who had been working in the DR Congo was infected and later transferred to Germany for treatment. An imported case was also reported in France in June.
Funding remains another challenge.
WHO has appealed for $115 million for the response, but only about 60% of that amount has been secured so far. Health authorities have recently added 400 treatment beds and are deploying more epidemiologists to strengthen contact tracing.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that the full scale of the outbreak is still unknown and that it is unlikely to end within weeks or even a few months.
The outbreak is affecting 55 health zones across six provinces in northern and eastern DR Congo, where armed groups have operated for decades and public health infrastructure remains weak.
WHO, Africa CDC and the Congolese government are expanding community surveillance, treatment capacity and safe burial support, while clinical trials for vaccines and therapeutics are also underway.
The WHO emergency committee said border controls alone would not stop the virus from spreading and called for sustained international support and stronger surveillance systems.
넥스트포스트 박해도 전문위원 pooksi@nextpost.co.kr
