DR Congo: New centre opens at heart of record Ebola outbreak

“Ebola is moving fast, hitting people already facing conflict and hunger,” said Carl Skau, acting chief of the World Food Programme (WFP) following a weekend visit to eastern DRC. “Communities are key to ending it, but need support.”

WHO said the current outbreak is now the largest recorded Ebola virus disease outbreak in the country, surpassing the 2018 to 2020 outbreak which resulted in 3,317 confirmed cases.

During the most recent complete reporting week, the highest weekly number of reported cases (567) and deaths (296) to date were recorded, underscoring the exceptional pace of transmission.

The hardest hit areas are in a “red zone”, where lifesaving work is underway. UN agencies and partners, including the United States and the International Medical Corps (IMC), have helped to set up an Ebola transit centre at the Kigonze displacement camp on the outskirts of Bunia, the capital of Ituri.

The facility will make it easier to identify suspected cases more quickly and refer confirmed Ebola patients to treatment centres, an OCHA spokesperson said.

This week, health partners will also inaugurate the biggest treatment centre of the country, with a 100-bed capacity, OCHA announced.

However, a substantial scaling up of response activities is needed to get ahead of the outbreak, which has seen increasing number of cases, expanding geographic spread and high mortality, WHO warned.

“The convergence of insecurity, population displacement and mobility and cross-border movements complicate response operations and increase the risk of further geographical spread,” the UN agency said, noting that around 270,000 people who have fled violence now live in displacement sites across Ituri province, where conditions are ideal for the disease to spread.

Meanwhile, aid teams are finding that the disease appears to be causing still births and premature deliveries, underscoring the need to provide additional care for patients who are pregnant.

As needs have climbed, so has the response.

When the outbreak was announced late last year, UN agencies partnered with Congolese health authorities to open an innovative Ebola treatment centre in December that could accommodate 25 patients.

Since then, tonnes of supplies have been shipped and the number of treatment beds has expanded across affected areas, including Nizi, a priority area for the Ebola response, hosting more than 80,000 internally displaced people across 22 sites and facing high population movement linked to mining activities.

This week, WHO delivered 30 additional beds and 38 mattresses to health authorities in Nizi, located near Mongbwalu in Ituri province, bringing the Ebola Treatment Centre’s capacity to 80 beds.