Ebola Outbreak Becomes Deadliest in DRC's History

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has become the deadliest in the country's history, after authorities said they had recorded 2,325 deaths, surpassing the 2,299 deaths recorded in the DRC’s 2018-2020 outbreak.

• The current outbreak is eclipsed only by West Africa’s 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, which saw 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation, but the Bundibugyo outbreak is taking lives at a much faster rate.
• Regional and global authorities have been working to prevent the spread of the virus to neighboring countries such as South Sudan and the Central African Republic, as well as stemming its spread within the DRC, where there are now currently 4,945 confirmed cases.
• The outbreak, which was declared a public health crisis in May, is the 17th such outbreak in the DRC since the virus was first identified in 1976.

A total of 730 patients remain in isolation or in the hospital and 1,040 people have recovered from the disease, and the fatality rate has risen to 46 percent, according to Government data. 

Inadequate health infrastructure, ongoing conflict at the epicentre of the outbreak and distrust of medical authorities have all hindered efforts to help as WHO warns the outbreak is “outpacing the response.”

The virus may have been spreading undetected since before March, potentially as long as three months before the first official case was identified, allowing multiple chains of transmission to establish across communities and provinces.

In early June, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a joint, six month, US$ 518 million Continental Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to contain the Ebola outbreak. Researchers at the University of Oxford and the Pandemic Sciences Institute are also undertaking a parallel effort to make a vaccine for the virulent Bundibugyo strain.