The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has grown to 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths, with infections spreading into new areas, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Olivier le Polain, WHO’s unit head for epidemiology and analytics for response, told reporters from Beni in North Kivu province that the outbreak was expanding both in the number of cases and in geographic reach.
Citing figures from the Congolese Health Ministry, WHO said most cases have been reported in Ituri province, though infections have now been detected across 34 health zones in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
“Almost every day, cases are being identified in new health zones,” le Polain said, warning that the official figures may capture only part of the outbreak because of high population movement and difficulties in detecting cases.
WHO and Congolese authorities have identified 17 hotspot health zones requiring intensified monitoring and support. Other areas considered at high risk are also being watched, even if they have not yet reported confirmed cases.
Le Polain said the tools needed to contain Ebola are well known, including safe burials, infection prevention in health facilities, early case detection, contact tracing and community engagement.
But he warned that insecurity, weak health services and widespread population movement continue to make the response more difficult.
“The full scale of the outbreak is not yet clear,” he said, adding that surveillance, testing and contact tracing are still being expanded.
WHO said it is supporting Congolese authorities with laboratory capacity, logistics, infection prevention, clinical care, surveillance and risk communication as efforts continue to contain the spread.