Ebola Suspected Cases Surge Past 900 in DR Congo as Conflict Blocks Aid

Contact persons must isolate for at least three weeks. However, due to ongoing fighting, people are repeatedly displaced, and contacts of infected persons cannot distance themselves from others in overcrowded refugee camps.

Approximately 100,000 people were displaced in the past month by fighting between government troops and rebel groups, according to WHO. The organization estimates the actual extent of the outbreak is larger than confirmed figures.

The African Union health authority registered 1,077 suspected Ebola cases, including 246 deaths. WHO last reported 223 suspected Ebola deaths since the start of the latest outbreak, with 10 deaths confirmed.

On Wednesday, WHO reported the first recovery case after a confirmed Ebola infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO specialist Anaïs Legand told reporters that a patient had recovered and left the hospital after two negative tests.

First Recovery and Aid Arrives

Tedros stated in Kinshasa before journalists that the outbreak "can be stopped." He later posted on X: "Together we will overcome this outbreak."

WHO is working with partners to accelerate clinical studies on possible vaccines and therapies. WHO scientific advisory bodies have recommended studies on several promising products that may be effective against the Bundibugyo strain. Several months will pass before possible treatments become available.

UNICEF reported that 100 tons of relief supplies from the European Union arrived in Bunia. The EU delivery includes protective equipment for medical personnel, medicines, and hygiene items and is intended to benefit approximately 100,000 people.

Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

Welthungerhilfe warns of a humanitarian catastrophe in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. Approximately ten million people in these provinces are affected by armed conflicts, displacement, and severely restricted access to humanitarian aid.

Ursula Langkamp, Welthungerhilfe country director in DR Congo, said: "The people in eastern Congo have had no peace for years — first hunger, war and displacement, and now also Ebola." She added: "The dangerous Ebola outbreak is causing the situation to escalate."

Tedros stated that WHO does not support travel bans, saying they "do not achieve much." The United States imposed entry restrictions on people from the affected countries. WHO intends to cooperate closely with authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Uganda.