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The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) called Tuesday for urgent, coordinated action to contain a rapidly escalating Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), warning that inaction could turn it into the worst-documented outbreak in history.
Sixty-five days into the outbreak, confirmed cases reached 2,423 on Tuesday, including 967 deaths, since the DRC Health Ministry declared the outbreak on May 15, according to a ministry update. The case fatality rate stands at 39.9%, while the contact tracing rate is 81.1%.
"The Ebola outbreak is escalating at an alarming pace. We must act now. If we do not stop it today, this will become the worst outbreak the world has ever documented," Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said in a post on the U.S. social media platform X. "This is not the time for delay. We must mobilize every available resource, strengthen the response on the ground and stop this outbreak before more lives are lost."
Kaseya said it was important to remember that behind every statistic is a person, a family and a community.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rarer species of Ebola for which no licensed vaccine or specific treatment currently exists, unlike the Zaire strain behind the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. It is the third outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain since the virus was identified, following outbreaks in Uganda in 2007-2008 and in DRC in 2012, and marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in DRC since 1976.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in May, citing the added risk posed by the region's limited health infrastructure, ongoing conflict and high population movement linked to mining and cross-border trade.
The virus has spread across five provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo. Ituri remains the epicenter of the outbreak, with sustained transmission reported.
The number of affected health zones rose from 36 to 42 over the past week, according to the WHO.
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