The Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly to new hot spots where patients have little or no support The Ebola outbreak in Congo is creating new hot spots where there's little to no support for patients, responders and officials say, as health workers admit there could still be a long way to go in fighting the disease that has killed over 4,000 people. More than 70% of new cases are still coming from outside of known contacts and at least 60% of deaths are outside of treatment centers, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. The conflict-battered, remote North Kivu province, which has emerged as the new epicenter, now accounts for around 40% of all newly confirmed cases in Congo, compared with 24% at the end of August.
But the response on the ground is “chaotic,” said Stephanie Hoffmann, a project coordinator with Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak — caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment — was declared in May under some of the most challenging conditions imaginable fueled by mass population movements, rebel violence, mistrust and poor welfare of front line workers. Congo has recorded more than 8,500 cases in the outbreak, according to government data, making it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record and the country’s deadliest.
On Tuesday, Kenya reported its first Ebola case, a man who arrived from Congo and died while receiving treatment. The biggest challenge to date is contact tracing, Dr. Only 23% of expected contacts of Ebola patients have so far been traced.
The disease is spreading in a region of Congo with intense population movements due to economic activities, conflict displacement and mining, and where there’s deep mistrust with the government and misinformation about the virus. Many Ebola treatment centers in North Kivu are struggling with shortages of health workers and supplies, contributing to more deaths among patients, the World Health Organization has said. North Kivu’s case fatality rate of 58% is the highest among Congo’s seven affected provinces.
The disease has spread to half of its 34 health zones. In nine of those 17 affected zones, more than half of patients with confirmed infections have died, according to Health Ministry data. Desperate for care, patients in some parts of North Kivu have turned to regular health facilities, MSF said.
Nearly five months after the outbreak was declared, it has become harder to track in parts of North Kivu, where residents still have “a hard time believing the disease exists,” said Michel Ngimba of the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Butembo. He described cases in which families were reluctant to report a death or allow a sample to be taken from someone who died with Ebola symptoms. In other cases, families “want to arrange the funeral quickly,” Ngimba said, potentially creating new chains of transmission because the bodies of people who die from Ebola are highly contagious.
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