DRC Ebola outbreak passes 4,000 deaths as cases top 8,000

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached a new milestone, with confirmed cases surpassing 8,000 and deaths passing 4,000, according to the latest figures. Health ministry data cited in reports put the toll at nearly 4,000 deaths, including 50 healthcare workers, while another update said more than 4,000 people had died out of about 8,300 confirmed cases. The outbreak, announced on 15 May, is described as the fastest growing in history and is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no treatment or vaccine.

Earlier reports had put the toll at about 3,500 dead and more than 6,000 infected. Aid agencies warn the real number of cases may be much higher because many people do not seek treatment, either because they do not believe Ebola exists or because they prefer to die at home with their families. For every patient seen in a treatment centre, officials estimate there may be as many as three times more still at home.

The outbreak is concentrated in eastern provinces including Ituri and North Kivu, across an area roughly the size of France. The region was already fragile. About a million people had been displaced after years of fighting, and an estimated 12 million people need aid. Much of eastern DRC is an active combat zone between government and rebel forces, with international forces caught in the middle. Aid convoys pass through mining towns and armed groups, and the routes are tense.

On the ground, gravediggers have been working around the clock to bury victims. In one cemetery, men dig in blistering heat. The dead are as infectious as the living, and many more graves are being dug in many more cemeteries. Treatment centres are divided into green zones and red zones. Inside the red zones, staff in protective clothing monitor and treat patients. Food and medicine are pushed through a series of chutes from the green zone to the red zone, and staff decontaminate equipment continuously. Every patient needs supervision for 24 hours a day.

Entire families have been struck down. A 40-year-old woman came into one treatment centre with four children; two of them died with her. A 12-month-old baby died overnight, and the child's mother tested positive the next morning. In another case, a one-week-old girl whose mother died from Ebola was being cared for by a survivor. A woman named Charlotte survived Ebola after previously doubting it existed. "Now I believe Ebola exists," she said. "It kills people very fast."

Aid agencies are struggling to respond. Less than 50% of foreign aid promised by the international community has been delivered, and World Food Programme warehouses are running out. In one area alone, 600,000 people are utterly dependent on food aid, and staff warned that after the current month's distribution there would be nothing left in the pipeline. The World Health Organization has accused the global community of indifference, and the UN has called it a virus of indifference. The international community has promised but is failing to deliver.

Health workers are also under pressure. Reports say there is a severe shortage of medical staff to run treatment centres, with some workers striking over unpaid wages. In one MSF-supported centre, 13 staff contracted Ebola before the partnership began, and some nurses and doctors died. A nursing manager working in treatment centres in Kisangani and Nyanya described patients arriving every day, some already so severe that staff knew they would most likely die. Entire families and communities are losing loved ones, and survivors and the bereaved face stigma, fear and shame.

Access remains a major problem. The WHO's emergency director for Africa said there are places with very few access routes and limited access to communities, and that movements in North Kivu are very concerning. A correspondent who travelled through the area said the outbreak is not one outbreak in one area but many outbreaks in different areas. Some facilities are full and cannot take more patients. Although the DRC government has suggested things may be easing, aid agencies warn the outbreak is ongoing and could spike, and some areas may be at the beginning rather than the end.

The rainy season is making roads muddy and slowing aid workers trying to reach remote villages. Medical teams are trying to contain the disease in conflict zones while also battling local scepticism and global indifference. There is still no prediction of when the cycle of infection, death and burial will end.