Kinshasa: A month has passed, but the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains a serious concern, with the cumulative number of infections surpassing 800, amidst numerous obstacles hampering efforts to control the disease.
According to Thai News Agency, efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing severe strain after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency on May 17. The latest figures show at least 840 confirmed cases in three provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, with nearly 200 deaths. Meanwhile, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reports that tens of thousands of close contacts of patients remain uncontacted. The current contact tracing rate is only about 56-63 percent, far below the WHO's safety threshold of 90-95 percent. Officials in the epicenter of the outbreak are severely lacking resources of almost every kind, from face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) to ambulances and even construction materials like gravel and prefabricated wall panels for building isolation wards.
Meanwhile, the virus is spreading in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, a mining area with high population mobility and crowded displaced persons camps, facilitating the spread of the disease. Furthermore, unrest and armed attacks in eastern Congo are making it difficult for doctors and relief workers to safely access the area. In addition, there are reports of some infected patients attempting to escape from medical facilities out of fear, and an incident where armed men abducted an Ebola-infected child from a hospital, reflecting a lack of trust in the local healthcare system.
However, the Democratic Republic of Congo's public health sector is still urgently deploying over 1,000 volunteers to conduct door-to-door screening. Meanwhile, international organizations such as Doctors Without Borders have established additional treatment centers and isolation wards in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and its border areas with Uganda. The European Union has announced emergency relief funding, and the US State Department is preparing to contribute funds to accelerate clinical research to find an antiviral agent against this Bandibugyo strain.