Red Cross warns Ebola epidemic has not yet peaked

The Red Cross said ⁠that the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had not yet peaked, voicing fear it could last for a ‌year.

"It's very ⁠difficult to know exactly to what extent the epidemic is spreading ... but yes, the peak is, I ‌think, not behind us, but in front ⁠of us," Bruno ‌Michon, operations manager for the Ebola outbreak for ⁠The ‌International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told ⁠reporters by video link from eastern Congo.

"We are afraid ⁠that this could last one year, to end this disease," he added.

Over 800 cases of the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no proven treatment or vaccine, have been reported in Congo, 192 of them fatal.

The disease, transmitted through body fluids even after death, is spreading fast across three ‌provinces, government data shows.

The government's figures likely understate the true toll, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in a statement, echoing a view shared by aid groups and some Congolese officials.

This is already the third deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.

Testing remains "one of the most significant weaknesses in the response", the MSF statement said.

The ‌response has been hampered by a lack of treatment ⁠centres and ‌by community resistance to stringent hygiene measures, and health officials say that, over a month since the outbreak was declared, the true scale is still ⁠unknown.

The World Health Organization said yesterday that hospital capacity to treat and isolate Ebola patients was insufficient.

There are only 14 treatment facilities and centres in nine health ⁠zones across Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

But the outbreak has already reached 31 of at least 90 health zones - a defined area with a network of clinics and a referral hospital - across those provinces.