KINSHASA, Sept. 23 — The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains uncontrolled despite signs of improvement in some affected areas, as cases have risen sharply in the eastern province of North Kivu, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said Wednesday.
Marie Roseline Belizaire, director of the WHO emergencies program in the African region, said during an online press briefing. The country had recorded 7,773 confirmed cases, including 3,759 deaths as of Monday, according to the DRC health authorities.
“We are beginning to see the first encouraging signs of progress,” Belizaire said.
Between Aug. 31 and Sept. 20, cases declined by about 26 percent in Ituri Province, the long-time epicenter of the outbreak, and by around 15 percent in Haut-Uele Province. North Kivu, however, recorded a 73-percent increase over the same period, she said.
“This clearly shows that the outbreak continues to evolve differently across the affected areas,” Belizaire said, noting that each of the seven affected provinces has its own transmission pattern.
“The outbreak is still not under control,” she said. “This outbreak continues to pose a significant risk to regional and global health security.”
Children under five remain particularly vulnerable, with a case fatality rate of more than 60 percent, compared with around 40 percent among adults, according to the WHO official.
While contact follow-up has improved to nearly 88 percent, too many new infections are still being detected without a known epidemiological link, highlighting persistent gaps in surveillance, she said.
Belizaire stressed that the response must now focus resources on areas where transmission and risks are highest while maintaining essential health services.
“We must consolidate the progress made in Ituri, strengthen the response in North Kivu and other emerging hotspots, detect cases earlier, reduce community deaths, and maintain strong cross-border preparedness,” she said.
The outbreak, declared in May, has become the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest Ebola outbreak globally, after the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. (Namibia Daily News/ Xinhua)
