Ebola cases in Congo top 3,200, nearing record of the country’s worst outbreak

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Confirmed cases in Congo’s ongoing Ebola outbreak have reached 3,262, its Ministry of Health said in an overnight update, nearly the same as the 2018-2020 outbreak that is the largest ever recorded in the country.

Data from the Congolese health ministry showed that 1,437 patients have died out of the 3,262 cases, in what officials have said is the fastest Ebola outbreak on record, concentrated in the eastern Ituri province.

The 2018-2020 outbreak that was recorded in Congo and neighboring Uganda lasted roughly two years, with more than 3,400 reported cases, including over 2,200 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Only the 2014-2016 outbreak across West Africa, considered the worst in history, had a higher toll with 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths.

The speed of transmission in the current outbreak comes amid concerns from residents that many communities in the affected provinces are either unreachable or have been abandoned by responders in recent days over safety concerns amid attacks from angry residents and rebels.

“The fact that, in just 10 weeks, we have reached nearly the same number of cases recorded over an almost two-year outbreak is alarming and should stop us in our tracks,” Onesphore Bangenza, Mercy Corps response team lead in Bunia, Ituri’s capital, said Tuesday.

“There is no doubt that the virus is moving faster than we can contain it,” Bangenza added.

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The ongoing outbreak, which was declared on May 15, is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments.

Efforts to slow the transmission have been challenged by rebel violence in eastern Congo as well as health workers striking to protest the nonpayment of their wages.

The outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track despite an expanding response. A key challenge is that patient zero has yet to be identified in the outbreak while displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining in the region have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.

Despite distrust between communities and health workers mostly seen at the early stages of the outbreak, signs of progress have emerged.

“We can never again wage war against the Ebola teams. We have lost members of our families. As a community, we have a vested interest in fighting Ebola to return to normal life,” said Fabrice Mumbesa, a resident of Mongbwalu, a mining town at the center of the outbreak where residents previously burned down several treatment centers.

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McMakin reported from Dakar, Senegal