‘Ebola is winning’: Epidemic now killing one person every 30 minutes

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – the fastest-growing on record and on track to become the deadliest – is killing one person every 30 minutes.

“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” UN humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher said. “We cannot let the virus outrun our response.” 

Alongside the startling current fatality rate, Mr. Fletcher announced on Friday that he has allocated an additional $30.5 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) – building on the $24 million previously allocated to the DRC and its neighbors to tackle the outbreak.

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The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) recently deployed a further 20 staff to the epicentre of the outbreak, but Mr. Fletcher said more may be needed to slow the spread. 

Declared on 15 May by national authorities in the DRC, the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak has now killed 2,184 people – nearly 47 per cent of those who have been infected. 

Six of the DRC’s 26 provinces have recorded Ebola cases, and Uganda has reported 20 cases. 

“This is a wake-up call,” Mr. Fletcher said.” We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.” 

WFP expands food assistance 

Starting tomorrow, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) will bring its hot meal programme to additional Ebola treatment centres in Ituri and other provinces, UN spokesperson Daniela Gross said on Friday. 

Civilians in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces are simultaneously dealing with Ebola and the ongoing conflict between the Congolese military and Rwanda-backed M23 militia. 

Ituri province remains the heart of the outbreak; of the more than 4,660 cases total, Ituri has recorded over 3,400. 

Across eastern DRC, 2.6 million people are seriously malnourished, with more than half located in Ituri. 

Since the end of May, WFP has provided more than 260,000 hot meals at treatment and isolation centres in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. 

Following Friday’s meeting of the UN’s Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Mr. Fletcher said the world’s largest humanitarian organisations had agreed to scale up the global Ebola response. 

More support needed 

Still, Ms. Gross said that civilians’ needs in the DRC far outpace the Ebola response, and that more support is needed. 

In order to protect lives across the region, Mr. Fletcher said the UN and its partners responding to Ebola must double the number of teams ensuring safe and dignified burials, triple the treatment capacity, improve contact tracing, and deploy more experienced managers. 

They also need to keep providing water, hygiene and healthcare assistance to those affected by the both outbreak and the years-long conflict between multiple armed groups and national troops which is complicating the fight against Ebola. 

Food insecurity assistance is only 25 per cent funded, highlighting the need for additional funding for lifesaving food aid. 

“The world needs to wake up and show up,” Mr. Fletcher said.