OMM Redaksiyası
The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached 8,067. According to the Ministry of Health, 3,901 people have died from the disease, putting the case fatality rate at 48.4%.
The outbreak, declared in mid-May, has spread to 63 health zones across seven provinces. More than three-quarters of the country’s reported cases have been identified in Ituri province.
Most deaths occurred in communities
The latest situation report said most newly confirmed deaths occurred in communities rather than at treatment centers. This has been particularly evident in Ituri and North Kivu provinces.
Difficulties in detecting cases promptly have delayed patients’ access to medical care. As a result, it has become harder to bring infected people into treatment.
Contact tracing has weakened
The contact-tracing rate, considered one of the main tools for identifying people who have been exposed to the virus, has fallen from 83.4% to 79.2%.
Transmission continues in Haut-Uele province, while a renewed increase in cases has been reported in Tshuapa. The addition of South Ubangi and other newly affected areas to the list has expanded the outbreak’s geographic reach.
The World Health Organization warned last week that the expanding area of transmission was increasing the risk of the disease crossing borders. The organization described the rising fatality rate and increase in deaths in communities as signs of the outbreak’s severity.
Scale of international support
The response to the outbreak requires broad international support. According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, at least $2.9 billion has been mobilized for Ebola response measures across the continent.
