DR Congo Ebola cases pass 8,000 as violence disrupts aid access in Ituri

Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 8,000, while insecurity around a displacement camp in the country’s east is making it harder for aid teams to reach people and track possible infections, the UN reported on Monday, 28 September.

A health-authority situation report cited by UN News recorded 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths in the current outbreak. Those are newer figures than the World Health Organization’s 25 September update, which recorded 7,890 cases and 3,799 deaths as of 23 September.

The UN said security incidents reported since 20 September had driven thousands of people from Kigonze displacement camp in Bunia, Ituri province. The UN humanitarian coordination office said the camp had hosted nearly 19,000 displaced people. Accounts cited by the UN described armed violence, threats and damage to shelters; the details of individual incidents have not been independently established by EBNewsDaily.

Humanitarian Coordinator Damien Mama said many families had sought refuge with host communities. Aid workers were struggling to assess needs and maintain assistance, the UN reported. The movement of people and limits on access could also interrupt contact tracing and other parts of the Ebola response.

The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus. The WHO said in its 25 September update that infections had spread to 63 health zones across seven DRC provinces, including a newly affected province in the country’s north-west. Ituri remained the most affected province in that report.

The UN’s Monday account said case numbers had fallen from an August peak in Ituri but transmission remained high. In neighbouring North Kivu, infections had risen to a mid-September high before declining in the most recent reporting days.

WHO has warned that the outbreak’s geographic expansion raises the risk of transmission across borders. Its 25 September assessment is a regional risk warning, not a report of Ebola cases in South Africa.