Democratic Republic of Congo: Two months into Ebola disease outbreak, virus spreads at alarming rate
MSF calls for a critical scale-up of international medical response at outbreak epicentre
Two months after the Ebola disease outbreak was officially declared in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with nearly 2,000 confirmed cases and more than 700 deaths, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for a critical scale-up of the medical response. The epidemic continues to spread at an unprecedented pace, including into new areas, while efforts to control it remain insufficient.
“We are still chasing the outbreak instead of staying ahead of it,” says Trish Newport, MSF emergency program manager. “More people become infected, more families lose loved ones and the response becomes harder to contain. We need stronger, more coordinated international action to move faster and improve access to both Ebola care and other essential health services. Every delay costs lives.”
In just two months, the current Ebola disease outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, has become the third-largest Ebola outbreak and the fastest growing on record. In the five weeks up to July 12, the number of confirmed cases tripled from 650 to nearly 2,000, while the number of deaths increased more than fivefold, from 130 to more than 700. The epidemic has already exceeded half the number of cases recorded during DRC’s 2018 to 2020 Ebola outbreak, which lasted almost two years.
“Since MSF started our Ebola response activities, we have treated 57 survivors, but more than 110 patients have died. Increased national and international resources would help prevent further transmission and loss of life.”
Ayokunnu Raji, medical doctor and MSF medical program manager
While Ituri province accounts for approximately 90 per cent of all confirmed cases, the outbreak continues to expand geographically. Limited access to medical care, an overstretched surveillance system and increasing pressure on treatment centres mean entire communities outside of major urban areas remain without adequate support.
MSF is calling on health authorities and humanitarian institutions to increase resources across all aspects of the Ebola disease outbreak response. This includes community engagement, surveillance, testing and diagnosis, patient care, survivor support and the safe and dignified management of bodies and burials, while ensuring other critical health needs are also addressed.
“In Mongbwalu, we are seeing the deadly human consequences of these gaps every day,” says Ayokunnu Raji, medical doctor and MSF medical program manager. “At the Ebola Treatment Centre, we continue to see patients arriving in critical condition, with little chance of survival. Since MSF started our Ebola response activities, we have treated 57 survivors, but more than 110 patients have died. Increased national and international resources would help prevent further transmission and loss of life.”
Sylvie Kaczmarczyk, is MSF’s emergency coordinator in Bunia. “In Bunia, the 90-bed Elikiya Ebola Treatment Centre is almost always operating at full capacity,” she says. “People regularly tell us they prefer to wait at home and come only when a bed becomes available. As a result, we continue to receive patients who arrive late and are already critically ill. It is devastating to know many of these deaths could have been prevented through earlier diagnosis and timely access to care and treatment.”
Bringing the response closer to communities
While other medical organizations are working alongside the Ministry of Health in eastern DRC, significant gaps remain.
DRC’s surveillance system is designed to detect cases early through strong community networks and the local health system. However, the current Ebola disease outbreak, combined with multiple other disease threats, has pushed the system to its limits.
The key is to bring the response closer to communities while boosting the medical response and surveillance system, so cases can be identified and isolated as early as possible. Efforts to expand testing, contact tracing and community engagement must also continue.
“Only a robust, adequately resourced medical response that truly reflects the scale of needs on the ground can prevent this outbreak from becoming a crisis beyond our ability to contain.”
Trish Newport, MSF emergency program manager
Movement restrictions, including border closures, self-monitoring requirements and external measures affecting humanitarian personnel are creating additional challenges for specialized Ebola staff.
A crisis amid multiple emergencies
The Ebola disease outbreak is unfolding in a context of armed conflict, displacement and multiple concurrent health emergencies. Insecurity continues to restrict access to some communities, while MSF teams are simultaneously responding to other critical medical needs, including cholera and malaria. The approaching rainy season is also expected to drive a surge in malaria cases, placing further strain on an already overstretched health system.
It is crucial to accelerate efforts to improve access to Ebola care while ensuring the provision of other basic humanitarian assistance, including healthcare, water and sanitation.
“We cannot continue responding to the epidemic with the same limited resources while it continues to outpace us,” says Newport. “Only a robust, adequately resourced medical response that truly reflects the scale of needs on the ground can prevent this outbreak from becoming a crisis beyond our ability to contain. To achieve that, expanded international support is urgently needed.”
MSF Ebola disease outbreak response
MSF currently runs seven Ebola Treatment Centres and more than 15 isolation units across Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo provinces, with a combined capacity of more than 430 beds. Additional isolation and treatment facilities are being prepared across the affected provinces.
By July 14, our medical teams had admitted more than 968 patients, including 357 confirmed cases. MSF has also supported the recovery of 116 survivors following treatment and care.
MSF is carrying out a wide range of critical activities, including community engagement, support for surveillance activities, training health workers in infection prevention and control, supplying health facilities with medicines and equipment, and helping to ensure the continuity of essential healthcare services beyond the Ebola disease response.
MSF supports the Ministry of Health with surveillance and detection activities, community engagement, training and ensuring safe access to other essential healthcare services. Our teams are also training health workers in infection prevention and control and supplying health facilities with medicines and equipment.
Hundreds of tonnes of medical supplies and equipment have been shipped from Kinshasa and abroad and more than 2,200 staff are currently involved in MSF’s Ebola response, including 800 Ministry of health staff supported by MSF.
MSF activities in DRC
MSF remains committed to providing impartial medical care to people across DRC, where we work in 16 of the country’s 26 provinces.
MSF’s current key activities in DRC include:
- surgical care for people wounded by violence
- treatment of malnutrition
- HIV and tuberculosis care
- reproductive health services
- pediatric care
- malaria prevention and treatment
- disease outbreak prevention, surveillance, and response
- mental health support.
MSF teams are also responding to other preventable disease outbreaks, including cholera and measles.
