Ebola spreading into new areas in northeast DR Congo — WHO

The Ebola outbreak in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading into new areas, the World Health Organization warns.

Much more needs to be done to get on top of the virus, the WHO says, with isolation bed capacity far below the anticipated need, based on how it is spreading.

Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, there have been 676 confirmed Ebola cases, including 136 deaths in the DRC, according to the latest figures from the WHO.

There are a further 119 suspected cases, while 32 patients have recovered.

No approved vaccines or treatments exist for the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus responsible for the current outbreak, which is centred on Ituri province, with cases also detected in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

“The outbreak continues to expand both in terms of case numbers but also in terms of geographic spread,” says Olivier le Polain, the WHO’s head of epidemiology and analytics for response.

Speaking from Beni in North Kivu, he says that cases were being identified in new health zones within the three affected provinces on an almost daily basis.

“That reflects really the scale of this outbreak: a scale that is much bigger than what is being detected, and the high mobility of the population,” he tells reporters in Geneva.

Le Polain says that while in recent weeks, cases in new areas could be traced back to travel from hotspots, now “we also see local community spread in new areas.”

“There are still many blind spots in some areas that are high risk,” he adds.

“The full scale of the outbreak is not yet clear, and we’ll get more clarity as surveillance improves.”