DR Congo Ebola outbreak exceeds 8,000 cases

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo has logged more than 8,000 cases of Ebola, including almost 4,000 deaths, amid the worst outbreak in the country's history, according to data from the Congolese authorities seen by AFP on Monday.

In mid-May, the DRC officially declared its 17th Ebola breakout, a deadly disease that has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

To date, authorities have recorded 8,067 cases -– including 3,901 deaths and 2,070 recoveries -– since the start of the current crisis, representing a fatality rate of 48.4 per cent, the latest official data showed.

Starting in northeastern Ituri province, the outbreak has spread to seven provinces, with Ituri, North Kivu and Upper-Uele accounting for the majority of recorded cases.

Following a rapid increase, the number of cases has levelled off, according to the African Union’s health agency Africa CDC, which nonetheless sees the outbreak as "not under control".

Several treatments and vaccines are being trialled against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus behind the latest case flurry but for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.

The health response lacks resources in remote areas, where the presence of armed groups complicates movement, amid mistrust from some sections of the local population, which has led to violence targeting humanitarian staff.

A health worker responsible for detecting cases was killed during an armed attack at a health checkpoint in North Kivu province, according to the Congolese health authorities’ latest case report, which highlighted a "low capacity" to treat cases at health centres in Ituri province.

The report also described a "complete shortage" of stocks of an experimental vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain in the northeastern province of Tshopo, where cases have been recorded.

The first doses of the Ervebo vaccine, which has been proven effective against the hitherto most common Zaire strain of the virus, have been administered in recent weeks in the DRC to volunteers from among frontline health staff as part of a clinical trial.

Some 70,000 doses of Ervebo, drawn from the global stockpile of Ebola vaccines, were allocated to the DRC in August.

Last week, the United States announced it was releasing a further $267 million to help fight Ebola.