Ebola cases pass 10,000 in Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak

More than 10,000 people have been infected in the Ebola outbreak declared in May in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the latest government figures. Nearly 5,000 people have died in the outbreak, which spans from Nigeria to Kenya. About a third of those who have died are children, and roughly three out of four infected children under age 5 have died.

Katie Thomas-Canfield, interim Ebola response director for the International Rescue Committee, said the case count has grown faster than expected. "It's a milestone that we're all surprised to be passing this quickly," she said. "10,000 people affected by Ebola in such a short period is really staggering." At this point in the West Africa outbreak of 2014 to 2016, about 4,000 people were infected; that outbreak ultimately reached more than 28,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths.

The outbreak was declared in May, but recent evidence indicates the virus may have begun spreading in February or March. Thomas-Canfield said the Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the outbreak was not what existing tests were calibrated to detect, which delayed identification. The northeastern DRC region is remote and affected by conflict, and cuts to U.S. foreign aid may have slowed disease surveillance, according to Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious disease physician at Boston University.

Douglas Noble, global incident manager for Ebola at UNICEF, said the response has grown to about two dozen diagnostic labs, more than 50 treatment centers and close to 2,000 treatment beds. About two-thirds of deaths still occur in communities rather than treatment centers, a figure that has held steady for months. An October survey by the International Rescue Committee found that 85% of respondents in North Kivu, a current hotspot, said distrust of community responders keeps them from seeking care.

No vaccine or treatment is licensed for the Bundibugyo species. Healthcare workers began receiving the Ervebo vaccine in late August, and researchers started a clinical trial called Tumaini, the Swahili word for hope, to test how well it works against Bundibugyo. Bhadelia said about 80% of new cases come from people health officials were not tracking. "The sporadic cases that we're seeing in neighboring countries is a sign of the growth in DRC," she said.