Government figures show more than 5,000 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The outbreak has spread to eight provinces without an approved vaccine for the active strain.
More than 5,000 people have died from an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to government figures released on Friday. As Al Jazeera reported, officials announced the latest toll as they struggle to control the virus, which has infected more than 10,000 people across eight of the country’s 26 provinces since the outbreak began in May.
The death toll marks a sharp rise from earlier in October, when DR Congo Ebola cases top 9,000 and fatalities stood at more than 4,300. The outbreak became the deadliest in Congolese history in August and now ranks as the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record.
Why containment has stalled
Data from the Congolese health ministry shows more than 10,300 confirmed cases and a case fatality rate of 48.6%, BBC News reported. Containment has proven difficult because the epicentre remains in the north-eastern province of Ituri, an active conflict zone. Health authorities have also pointed to delayed detection and strained medical resources as factors accelerating transmission.
Local violence has created additional obstacles for medical teams. Earlier this week, local youths killed a nurse and badly injured another medical worker after accusing them of poisoning water supplies and spreading the disease, according to the United Nations-backed Radio Okapi. Attackers beat a politician to death last month for promoting prevention rules, and the Red Cross reported that 11 violent incidents in the outbreak’s first 100 days injured volunteers and left an ambulance burned.
Care providers also lack specific medical defenses. The crisis is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. The virus moves through contact with infected bodily fluids such as vomit or blood, triggering sudden symptoms that can progress to vomiting, diarrhoea, organ failure and internal or external bleeding. The United Nations warned that the current outbreak is “taking lives at a much faster rate” than earlier epidemics.
Regional spread and travel curbs
The outbreak has extended beyond Congolese borders into three other African nations. Kenya has recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths. Uganda registered 20 cases and two fatalities shortly after the outbreak started, though it has documented no new cases since August while keeping border restrictions in place for arrivals from the DRC.
In West Africa, Nigeria confirmed an Ebola case earlier in October involving a patient in Abuja who was subsequently transferred to Switzerland for medical care. On Saturday, the Nigerian disease control centre placed two individuals in isolation for testing after identifying them as suspected cases. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assessed the probability of transmission within Europe as “very low.”
Foreign governments have responded with stricter border controls. On Friday, Saudi Arabia suspended travel to and entry from Kenya, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The measure bars Saudi citizens from visiting Kenya, halts all visa processing for travellers from Kenya, and blocks entry to anyone who spent time in Kenya or other affected countries during the preceding 21 days. Saudi authorities earlier banned travel to and entry from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan in June.
What happened before and what happens next
This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo’s history. The nation’s previous deadliest outbreak killed 2,299 people between 2018 and 2020. The deadliest outbreak globally occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, infecting more than 28,600 people and causing more than 11,000 deaths across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, while reaching nations including Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
To halt further spread, the World Health Organization’s regional office for Africa said health systems need expanding control measures, broader access to conflict-affected territory and increased community outreach. Medical personnel are carrying out diagnostic testing, supportive treatment and clinical trials for experimental vaccines as regional border monitoring continues.
