The scale of the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo could exceed “two to four times” official estimates, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated on Tuesday July 14.
“According to our projections (…) the scale of the epidemic represents at least two to four times the number of cases recorded,” Chikwe Ihekweazu, who heads the WHO health emergency management program, announced to the press, specifying however that the organization’s capacity to “detect cases is increasing and improving every day”.
Declared two months ago, the Ebola epidemic in the DRC has already officially caused more than 700 deaths and nearly 2,000 cases. Declared in Ituri (north-east), on the border of South Sudan and Uganda, it now extends to four other provinces: North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Haut-Uélé. Twenty cases have also been recorded in neighboring Uganda.
“This is now the third largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded, and (it is) the one which is experiencing the fastest progression in a single month of all the Ebola epidemics that we have managed,” alerted Chikwe Ihekweazu, returning from a trip to eastern DRC. According to him, “despite the progress made, the epidemic continues to outpace the response efforts of national authorities, international partners, including the WHO, and the most affected communities.”
The lost race against time
The “most alarming” observation in his eyes probably lies in the fact that “many of the new cases reported concern people who died within their community, without ever having reached a health facility or received care”. “We need to detect cases earlier. We need to strengthen and accelerate contact tracing. We must ensure that health facilities are accessible, safe and trusted by the communities they serve,” he added, specifying that more than 90% of cases were still detected in Ituri.
Among the more encouraging points, Chikwe Ihekweazu indicated that the follow-up rate for contact cases was now approaching 80%, that 700 beds were now available to treat patients, and that the number of laboratory facilities had increased from one to fourteen.
Furthermore, he recalled that two treatments are currently being tested on site and that the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) in Kinshasa, the French agency ANRS MIE and the NGO Alima were to shortly announce the clinical trial of post-exposure prophylaxis (PPE) based on the antiviral obeldesivir in people who have been in contact with confirmed cases.
