WHO calls for expanded Ebola response as Congo deaths exceed 3,000

Geneva, Switzerland. The World Health Organization said the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo must be expanded, as government data showed deaths from the outbreak had surpassed 3,000.

Transmission concerns

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that identifying and breaking all chains of transmission remained a major challenge.

“Until every chain is found and broken, the epidemic will continue and will continue to pose a threat to DRC, its neighbours and the region as a whole,” he told reporters in Geneva.

Tedros said many of those who died had not been included on lists of known contacts, indicating that some transmission chains had not been identified. He added that unsafe burials were continuing to fuel the spread of the disease.

Scale of the outbreak

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, has become the largest and deadliest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history after surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic.

It is the second-largest Ebola outbreak after the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Treatment and funding plans

The WHO plans to begin clinical efficacy trials of potential vaccines next month or in November, while trials of treatments are already under way.

Tedros called on the international community to increase and accelerate funding for the Congolese government-led Ebola response plan, which is seeking $1.3 billion.

The WHO has shipped 320 tonnes of supplies and increased testing capacity to 3,000 tests per day, but said additional funding was needed to support the response, including by expanding bed capacity at Ebola treatment centres.