The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread from three health zones to 64 across seven provinces. Aid workers said there are not enough trained people to keep up.
The outbreak is now 20 weeks old. Health teams have slowed some early hotspots, but the virus keeps reaching new places. Each new area needs its own team, treatment beds and community workers.
“You have no impression really that we’re catching up,” said Johnny Falconer, who ran medical care at an 80-bed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) centre in Bunia. “We’re still dramatically behind.”
Abdou Sebushishe, who helps lead frontline work for the International Medical Corps, starts his day at about 5.30am. He said work can go on until 9pm, when he often eats his only meal of the day.
“The numbers that you are seeing being reported every day, these are real people,” he said. He worries about tired colleagues, including engineers who build treatment centres day and night.
Weekly cases in Ituri province have fallen by more than half since mid-August. But on 26 September, the village of Mandima reported 25 new infections, including 20 people who had already died at home. Less than a week later, its confirmed cases rose from 118 to 152.
In North Kivu, cases jumped 84% last month, government reports show. MSF said on 3 October that the virus was spreading “like wildfire” there. On 2 October, only seven of 30 identified households in the province were cleaned, because of community resistance and a lack of teams and transport.
“Putting out small fires isn’t possible,” said Trish Newport, emergency programme manager at MSF in Congo. “And you end up with massive fires everywhere.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it takes about three weeks to build an Ebola treatment centre to standard. Running one can need about 300 health workers. The WHO said there are now more than 1,700 beds in 50 centres, with plans to pass 2,000.
About 254 health workers have been infected and 50 have died. Many were infected early on while treating patients outside special Ebola centres, where protective gear and training were short.
Thousands of community workers now go from house to house to find sick people and their contacts. On 12 September, teams made almost 32,000 household visits in Ituri and North Kivu. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Congo plans to use close to 71,000 community workers.
Africa CDC said almost 80% of new infections are found among people who were not already being followed. Congo reached 73% of listed contacts on 2 October, and only 60% in North Kivu.
The outbreak has already crossed borders. Uganda recorded imported cases, and an infected traveller was diagnosed in France. Africa CDC warned that the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo and South Sudan are also at risk.
Aid cuts have made the work harder. The International Rescue Committee cut 60% of its health sites in Congo. The WHO froze hiring and cut emergency spending after losing United States funding.
The Trump administration disputes that its changes weakened the response. On 23 September, the US announced a new $267 million commitment, bringing its support for the outbreak to $887 million.
“You can pour money to get some of the commodities, but actually having trained teams to go and do this… is a big limiter,” Falconer said.
Reported deaths fell 29% in September compared with August. Africa CDC said insecurity and community resistance have disrupted tracking in several hotspots, so the true trend is hard to measure.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Moneyweb. Image: Moneyweb. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.