Democratic Republic of Congo: As Ebola disease spreads to new areas, MSF responds to prevent a wider crisis
New hotspots emerg as fragile health services struggle to contain transmission.
The race to contain the Ebola disease outbreak is far from over. While some indicators, like declining admissions and slower transmission, may suggest the outbreak is easing, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is observing a worrying trend: cases are emerging and spreading into new, underprepared areas while basic response measures are still not in place in the original hotspots.
“Assuming the outbreak is under control because some Ebola Treatment Centres are admitting fewer patients would be a mistake,” says Anthony Kergosien, MSF emergency coordinator in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “In Ituri, the original epicentre, the spread is indeed slowing down for now. But nationally, the number of new cases has not fallen. The outbreak is not shrinking, it is moving: South Ubangi has become the seventh affected province, while North Kivu now accounts for nearly half of all newly confirmed cases, with test positivity rising sharply in recent days. While undetected chains of transmission are already taking hold in the main operational hubs, the spread of the outbreak into new areas with even weaker preparedness and response capacities poses a serious risk.”
“In health zones, such as Bambu, where we currently have a rapid response team mobilized, health systems are already stretched thin by chronic funding gaps, staffing shortages and weak referral capacities.”
Anthony Kergosien, MSF emergency coordinator in Bunia
DRC is currently facing the largest Ebola disease outbreak ever recorded in the country. Since May, more than 7,200 confirmed cases and 3,500 deaths have been reported, with the true toll likely higher due to gaps in surveillance and case detection. To make sure our response is the most effective, MSF is mobilizing staff and supplying resources towards rapid-response teams. These teams support early case detection, patient observation and treatment, infection prevention and control measures, contact tracing, surveillance and community engagement.
“This strategy is about detecting and trying to contain new clusters early, before they grow into large outbreaks,” says Anthony Kergosien. “In health zones, such as Bambu, where we currently have a rapid response team mobilized, health systems are already stretched thin by chronic funding gaps, staffing shortages and weak referral capacities. Ebola pushes these fragile structures past their limits. Our teams provide a response to bridge the most urgent gaps while the wider response scales up.”
However, MSF teams alone cannot address the expanding edges of this outbreak. Sustaining this approach requires a significant increase in operational support from UN agencies, including the World Health Organizaton. A more responsive and comprehensive engagement that strengthens all pillars of the Ebola disease response is critically needed, particularly in areas beyond the main hubs where response capacities are concentrating. Such support would enable MSF to focus on rapidly mobilizing to newly emerging clusters while ensuring affected communities receive the full range of services required to contain the outbreak.
