The deadliest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history continued to spread on Friday, prompting UN responders to renew an urgent appeal for immediate international support as funding for lifesaving operations runs critically low.
Since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, 5,290 people have been infected and 2,516 have died, according to the latest Health authority data. The fatality rate stands at 47.6 percent, with 1,152 people recovered and nearly 840 remaining in isolation or hospitalized. Contact follow-up is at 82.9 percent.
“We’re only covered for the next weeks, and very soon funding will run out,” said Julien Harneis, UN Senior Ebola Coordinator, briefing journalists from the epidemic epicenter in Bunia, Ituri province. “Every delay in funding and implementation makes this epidemic more deadly, more difficult to stop and more expensive. So, we need that international support immediately.”
Harneis warned the disease is “growing exponentially,” with half of all deaths occurring in just the last 20 days. “The epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France. And the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response,” he stressed, citing brutal operating conditions that continue to impede frontline workers.
Three months into the outbreak, 160 healthcare workers have contracted Ebola and 43 have died. Beyond the virus, responders face targeted violence. “When we do respond, apart from the threat from the virus, healthcare workers and frontline workers have been attacked by youths, ambulances have been burned and stoned and the healthcare facilities have been attacked,” Harneis explained. Logistical hurdles are severe: last week, a journey of 60 kilometres (37 miles) to an Ebola hotspot took three hours.
The virus is spreading across six eastern provinces — Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé, Tshopo, and Bas-Uélé — where decades of violence have eroded basic social services. Gaps in government-run healthcare and a barely functioning banking system compound the crisis. “We’re unable to bring in the amount of money that is required to pay the workers, which has led to great unhappiness amongst frontline workers,” Harneis said.
Although the United States has contributed $80 million to the DRC government to boost bed capacity and safe burial practices, aid cuts over the past two years have reduced the capacity of humanitarian organizations by more than 30 percent.
Despite these challenges, multiple UN agencies — including the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the International Organization for Migration — continue to work alongside DRC authorities and partners such as Médecins Sans Frontières to push back the epidemic.
“It’s a disease, it’s an invisible threat which comes into your community and suddenly people start falling sick around you and your loved ones die,” Harneis said. “And that generates a lot of fear in any community.” The outbreak’s trajectory underscores the urgent need for sustained funding and secure access to contain the virus in a region already destabilized by conflict.
