The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading at an alarming rate. In the last two months alone, the World Health Organization has recorded 1,000 Ebola cases - as many as in the first seven months after the outbreak was first confirmed in North Kivu province in August last year. As of June 3, the World Health Organization reported 2,020 Ebola cases, with 1,354 people dying from the disease.
The 1976 outbreak was already described as the country's worst, but the rapid spread of the virus exceeds the situation back then. In comparison, only 318 cases were reported in 1976. The current outbreak is the tenth in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
However, the government's inability to control the spread of the disease is linked to the location of the outbreak, as the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to armed rebels and the risk of conflict. The lack of security for WHO and Ministry of Health personnel on the ground has proven to be a barrier to widespread screening and vaccination, as well as tracing possible contacts and cases - all critical elements in combating an Ebola outbreak.
It is a problem that does not seem to be going away, as 174 attacks on health facilities or health workers in North Kivu took place in 2019 alone. In an attack on the university clinic in April, Dr. Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, a well-known WHO epidemiologist, killed.
To stop the epidemic, health workers must feel safe and work quickly. Once safety is assured, WHO and the Democratic Republic of Congo Ministry of Health staff will be able to use rVSV-ZEBOV, the most effective andmost widely used Ebola vaccineinsert. During the tests, rVSV-ZEBOV showed 100% efficiency. Thousands of people tested in Guinea were confirmed virus-free within 10 days.
