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Ebola responders grapple with spreading outbreak in DR Congo
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
Key points
- 7,200 Ebola cases and nearly 3,500 deaths reported
- Outbreak spreading across an area covering two time zones
- Insecurity, poor roads and funding gaps are hampering response
- Weekly cases are doubling in parts of North Kivu
“If we don’t have the resources, the epidemic will come back…it remains a deadly and massive epidemic,” stressed Julien Harneis, UN Special Ebola Coordinator.
Latest data from 12 September indicates 7,200 reported cases of Ebola and close to 3,500 deaths across 62 health zones, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). The virus is now present in seven provinces “covering a very vast geographic area”, said Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response at WHO. “Although the response has been unprecedented in its scale, the epidemic continues to expand.”
In partnership with the authorities, UN agencies and partners have been assisting in tackling the Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak since the emergency was declared in mid-May.
But there are immense challenges involved in working in resource-rich regions where populations have experienced decades of violent insecurity and development setbacks.
“[In] many areas, the roads are massive potholes – not even potholes – trucks disappear into the mud; [in] many areas, the access, even by small plane, is complicated. And then there’s violence against the response,” explained Mr. Harneis. “We have cases in Bunia, in Ituri and in the far other end of the country in Sud-Ubangi, that is like a distance from Geneva to Dublin.”
The veteran aid coordinator warned that the $1.3 billion humanitarian response is only 49 per cent funded, while Ebola “makes things much worse for all Congolese, “from worsening hunger levels to falling attendance at health centres, increases in maternal mortality” and interrupted treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.
“We’ve done a lot of positive work through the scaling up bed capacity, but unless we get more specialized medical care, we will eventually come to a plateau,” Mr. Harneis continued, stressing the need for countries to deploy international emergency medical teams immediately.
“If you don't provide the care, if you don’t finance the care, if you don't provide the technical resources, then Ebola is a live enemy and will come back at us,” he warned, adding that another $1 billion will be needed to sustain the response beyond the first six months. “There’s been some indication from Member States that they might be prepared to send those teams, but we need a far greater support and dedication of those resources.”
The Ebola outbreak continues to unfold in areas of great humanitarian need and will take “many, many months to get this outbreak under control fully”, insisted WHO’s Dr le Polain. The epidemiologist described how infections were beginning to decrease in some areas but rise “exponentially” in others, including North Kivu, where the number of weekly cases has now doubled, from about 100 to 200 cases. “We’re worried about particularly Butembo and Katwa”, a major axis in the northern part of North Kivu, the WHO official explained.
In other provinces, the situation “remains mixed”, with no new confirmed case in South Kivu since the end of May. “We had one recent case now in a new province, in South Ubangi, that will require a specific response and that response is being set up right now,” Dr le Polain said.
ends
Story: DRC Ebola update – OCHA WHO
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
Duration: 3’02”
DATELINE: 15 September 2026 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and broll from Lita, Ituri, DR Congo including at a treatment centre. Please credit WHO.
Speakers:
- Julien Harneis, Special Ebola Coordinator (OCHA)
- Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response (WHO)
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot, UN flag alley.
- Wide, Press Room, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Julien Harneis, Special Ebola Coordinator (OCHA): “It is, it remains, a deadly and massive epidemic, there are some areas of progress but nonetheless in other areas we continue to see growth in cases.”
- Wide, Press Room, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response (WHO): “As of 12 September, we've had 7,200 cases reported and close to 3,500 deaths across 62 health zones and now seven provinces, covering a very vast geographic area. Although the response has been unprecedented in its scale, the epidemic continues to expand.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers and TV screen showing speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Julien Harneis, Special Ebola Coordinator (OCHA): “To describe the extent, we have cases in Bunia, in Ituri and in the far other end of the country in Sud-Ubangi, that is like a distance from Geneva to Dublin.”
- Wide, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Julien Harneis, Special Ebola Coordinator (OCHA): “[In] many areas, the roads are massive potholes - not even potholes - trucks disappear into the mud; [in] many areas, the access, even by small plane, is complicated. And then there’s violence against the response."
- Wide, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response (WHO): “In North Kivu, we see cases picking up. Over the last two weeks, the number of weekly cases has increased from about 100 cases a week a few weeks back, to 200 cases per week last week. So, that's a doubling of the cases just in a few weeks in those people. We're worried about particularly Butembo and Katwa - that sort of urban central axis in the northern part of North Kivu - as well as Beni.”
- Wide, Press Room, video journalist, TV screens showing speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (French) - Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response (WHO): « La situation est plutôt mixte, la situation est plutôt hétérogène. Mais qu’on a certains, peut-être certains signes très, très initiaux d’une épidémie qui commence à fléchir dans certaines zones, mais qui augmente de manière exponentielle dans d’autres zones. »
- Wide, Press Room.
- Medium, journalist.
- Wide, video journalists.
- Wide, view of trees shot from below, Ituri, DR Congo; please credit WHO.
- Close, car driving on dirt road, filmed at car wheel level, Lita, Ituri, DR Congo including at a treatment centre; please credit WHO
- Wide, Ebola response convoy travelling along tree-lined dirt road; please credit WHO.
- Wide, Ebola treatment centre, drone overview; please credit WHO.
- Wide, Ebola treatment centre; drone overview; please credit WHO.
- Wide, Ebola treatment centre, drone overview; please credit WHO.
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