The UN has warned that the global response to Ebola must urgently outpace the virus as deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) approach 3,000.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the outbreak was expanding faster than containment efforts, in spite of a significant scale-up by humanitarian agencies and Congolese authorities.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, or contaminated materials, making early detection and isolation critical to breaking transmission chains.
“The response is growing and has been scaled up, but the virus is moving faster,” Fletcher said.
“And unless we scale up urgently, more lives will be lost and the threat will grow.”
DRC authorities had reported more than 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths by Monday, with over 5,000 infections recorded in Ituri Province alone.
The figures underline the exceptional speed of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, declared in DRC on May 15.
The current outbreak is spreading at a substantially faster rate than one of the deadliest Ebola emergencies previously recorded during the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic.
Fletcher said containing the epidemic would require sustained political commitment, unrestricted humanitarian access and significantly increased international financing.
“We have the experience, the tools and extraordinary people risking their lives to stop this epidemic. What we need now is political will, access and resources,,” he said.
The UN relief chief urged governments to ensure humanitarian workers could reach affected communities, particularly in areas where insecurity and weak infrastructure complicate response efforts.
