The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could become the worst ever recorded unless urgent gaps in the response are closed quickly, the head of Africa’s top public health agency warned on Tuesday.
Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said the outbreak, driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, risked surpassing both the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic and the 2018 outbreak in eastern Congo if containment efforts are not rapidly strengthened.
More than 800 cases have been reported in Congo, including 192 deaths, according to government data. The virus has spread across three provinces, while health officials say the true scale of the outbreak remains unclear more than a month after it was declared.
“If we don’t stop the outbreak very soon it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC,” Kaseya told a virtual meeting of African heads of state in Burundi.
The 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, making it the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record.
The Bundibugyo strain is particularly worrying because there is no proven vaccine or treatment. Ebola spreads through bodily fluids and can remain infectious after death, making safe burials and contact tracing central to containment efforts.
A Red Cross official also warned on Tuesday that the outbreak had not yet peaked.
“We are afraid that this could last one year to end this disease,” Bruno Michon, operations manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told reporters by video link from eastern Congo.
Response teams are facing major obstacles, including a shortage of treatment centres, limited protective equipment and resistance from some communities to strict hygiene measures. Michon said Red Cross teams involved in community outreach and safe burials had faced verbal abuse, threats and attacks in recent days.
Kaseya said one of the most alarming weaknesses was the failure to trace the contacts of most confirmed Ebola patients.
“We are just following 12% of our people. This is a major indicator for us. It means we don’t know the magnitude of this outbreak so far,” he said.
Africa CDC is seeking $518 million for a joint response plan with the World Health Organization, warning that delays could cause costs to spiral dramatically.
“If we don’t have it in the next four weeks, we will not ask again for $500 million, we’ll be asking about $1.5 billion. If we delay that, it will be $7.5 billion,” Kaseya said.
He said failure to invest quickly would leave Africa facing a much larger and more expensive emergency.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the same meeting that his country would raise its pledge to fight Ebola to $13.5 million. China also said it would provide additional emergency support.