The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Health Ministry announced Tuesday that confirmed cases in the nation’s ongoing Ebola outbreak have surpassed 9,000. According to data released on Oct. 13, the outbreak has resulted in 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths, affecting seven provinces in the country’s northern and eastern regions.
The government officially declared the outbreak in mid-May. This event now marks the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s history. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the only larger Ebola epidemic occurred from 2014 to 2016 in West Africa, which saw more than 28,600 cases and 11,000 deaths across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Health officials have identified the cause as the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. There are currently no internationally approved vaccines or treatments specifically for this strain. The virus, which transmits through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, has also been detected across international borders.
Last week, Kenyan authorities reported the country’s first confirmed case. The case involved a Kenyan national who had been in the DRC and traveled through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi, where he died. Earlier in the year, Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths linked to the outbreak before its government declared the country Ebola-free in August.
Efforts to contain the virus have faced multiple challenges, according to reports from aid groups and officials in the region. Health workers have encountered community mistrust in some affected areas. The outbreak is also occurring in a region with ongoing conflict involving armed groups and government forces, which complicates the secure transport of medical supplies and personnel to remote locations.
In a related incident in September, a local politician in eastern DRC was killed after he spoke on the radio in support of the government’s Ebola response measures, his political party reported.
The WHO is preparing for a clinical trial in the DRC to evaluate a vaccine candidate for the Bundibugyo strain. Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, stated on Tuesday that the trial is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
