Ebola outbreak in DRC spreads, with more than 900 reported cases: Officials
The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is "spreading rapidly," according to the head of the World Health Organization.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned during a Friday press briefing that the U.N. health agency has upgraded its risk assessment for spread at the national level from "high" to "very high." At the regional level, the risk remains "high" while the global level is still "low."
There have been more than 900 suspected cases and 115 deaths from Ebola reported in the DRC, the WHO and the country's Ministry of Communication said on Sunday. The WHO confirmed 101 cases as of Sunday, Ghebreyesus said in an X post.
Ghebreyesus described the situation in neighboring Uganda as "stable" with five cases and one death confirmed. At least some of the cases were people who traveled from the DRC.
The outbreak is currently active in 3 DRC provinces: Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. The epicenter is in a "highly insecure" area -- the DRC's eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri -- where ongoing armed conflict has sparked a displacement crisis, according to Tedros.
The WHO chief also acknowledged a "security incident" that took place Thursday in Ituri in which "medical tents and supplies were set on fire." He noted that building trust in the local communities is "critical."
The WHO's representative in the DRC, Dr. Anne Ancia, who appeared from the field via video link during the press briefing, said Thursday's incident "significantly jeopardized" the Ebola response operations her team is trying to initiate in the hotspot area.
She said that there is still very low contact tracing in Ituri, particularly the city of Bunia, but that there was better contact tracing happening in North Kivu.
In his Sunday post on X, Ghebreyesus noted that nearly 5 million people live amid ongoing conflict in Ituri.
"The violence is forcing people to flee, including health and humanitarian workers," he wrote. "This is severely impeding efforts to scale up Ebola contact tracing and identify infections early enough to provide supportive care. Ongoing insecurity and fear are also fueling mistrust within communities."
The Africa Centers for Disease Control warned Saturday that 10 other countries on the continent were at risk from the deadly outbreak.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC, said in a virtual briefing that Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia are now facing elevated transmission risk because of "cross-border population movement." He stressed the need for "preparedness, rapid detection, and regional coordination" to prevent further spread.
To that end, Kaseya unveiled a $314 million plan with the WHO to contain the outbreak, saying the six-month joint strategy would cover all 55 African Union member states, with most of the budget allocated to Ebola response efforts in the DRC and Uganda.
Multiple nations -- including the U.S., India, the U.K. and Australia -- have travel restrictions in place.
So far, one American has contracted Ebola in relation to the outbreak -- Dr. Peter Stafford tested positive after treating patients in the eastern DRC.
He was evacuated to Germany and is currently being treated at Charite University Hospital in Berlin in an isolation ward, the hospital said.
Stafford's wife and children, who are considered high-risk contacts, are also at the hospital and are currently in quarantine in a separate section of ward. The family is symptom free, according to the hospital.
The hospital said that Stafford does not currently require intensive care but is "severely weakened" from his illness.
U.S. citizens returning after traveling in the impacted area are being funneled through Virginia and Atlanta -- to look for possible symptoms and to answer questions about exposure -- with Houston to be added later this week, according to U.S. CDC.
The U.S. is barring all other travelers from or who have been through the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan in the last 21 days, including green card holders, the CDC said.
