Africa's top health body warns Congo's Ebola outbreak is rapidly spreading beyond epicenter

by JEAN-YVES KAMALE and MARK BANCHEREAU

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The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record in eastern Congo is rapidly spreading beyond its epicenter, Africa's top health body said Thursday.

In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have declined in Ituri province, the outbreak's epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said at a weekly briefing.

According to the latest government figures released on Thursday, 6,843 cases have been reported, including 3,310 deaths. Ituri province remains the hardest-hit province, with more than 5,400 cases while North Kivu has reported over 1,000 cases since the outbreak was declared in May.

The outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and intense population movements. The situation is particularly concerning at displacement sites, where residents already live in extremely precarious conditions.

The World Health Organization has said the outbreak remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In North Kivu, new cases more than doubled to 381 in the latest three-week period, from 165 in the earlier period, Yap Boum, Africa CDC's head of emergency preparedness and response, said Thursday.

The virus recently reached two more health zones in North Kivu, where fighting between government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who control the provincial capital Goma, has complicated the response.

Last month, Congo began vaccinating health and other front-line workers with the Ervebo vaccine that was effective in past Ebola outbreaks caused by a different, more common type called Zaire.

Clinical trials are underway to find a licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus.

The vaccination trials started in the eastern Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele provinces, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC's director for research, clinical trials and innovation, said Thursday.

Kingebeni said the vaccination campaign initially targeted newly affected provinces to help prevent further spread. Vaccinations in Ituri are set to start next week, he added.

A key challenge is the limited supply of doses, said Kingebeni. Congo has received 70,000 doses so far.

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