Ebola Deaths Soar Over 1,300 in DRC as Virus Races Through Conflict‑Ravaged Regions

In a startling turn of events, the Ebola outbreak gripping the Democratic Republic of Congo has now claimed the lives of over 1,300 people – an increase of more than 40 % in just five days, according to the latest government figures released on Saturday.

That same update pushed the total number of confirmed cases, deaths included, to 3,075, a jump of 27 % compared with the tally a week earlier. Health experts are calling it the fastest‑spreading Ebola flare‑up ever documented.

The culprit is the Bundibugyo variant, the least common of the four strains known to affect humans. It’s also the most troublesome because, unlike the more familiar Zaire strain, there’s still no licensed vaccine or proven treatment on the market.

“Without a proven vaccine, the virus is spreading like a wildfire,” warned Abdulsalami Nasidi, a public‑health consultant who helped set up the Africa CDC. He added that the outbreak is unfolding in an area riddled with armed conflict, a factor that only deepens the scarcity of medical supplies and personnel.

Scientists, however, are not standing still. The Oxford Vaccine Group announced that a volunteer received the first dose of an experimental Bundibugyo vaccine on Friday – a milestone they described as “the next phase in our multinational collaborative journey.” Still, the trial is in its infancy and far from providing the blanket protection needed.

History looms large. The 2013‑2016 West African epidemic, the deadliest on record, took about eight months to reach its first 1,000 deaths. The DRC’s current crisis has smashed that timeline, hitting the same grim figure in under ten weeks.

Jean Kaseya, director‑general of the Africa CDC, sounded the alarm on X, urging immediate action: “If we do not stop it today, this will become the worst outbreak the world has ever documented.”

On the ground in Goma, Al Jazeera reporter Alain Uaykani described a response hamstrung by poor coordination. Health workers are overstretched, some lacking basic protective gear, and a growing number of them have succumbed to the disease – a doctor and a frontline nurse were among the latest casualties reported on Saturday.

Since the outbreak was declared in May, more than 100 health workers have been infected and roughly 35 have died. The toll is exacerbated by shortages of PPE and, in some villages, mistrust that borders on hostility, with residents at times refusing treatment or even attacking facilities.

Adding to the chaos, staff at several hospitals in Ituri – the epicentre of the flare‑up – have launched strikes over unpaid wages and unsafe conditions. At the Elikya Ebola Treatment Centre in Bunia, about a hundred workers staged a protest on Saturday, demanding overdue bonuses they say are essential for morale and patient care. “I’ve already had five people die who are still inside there,” said striker Martin Bolombi, “a solution must be found for us.”

The World Health Organization’s director‑general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, cautioned that the official numbers may be a severe underestimate, possibly by a factor of two, as insecurity limits access to remote villages. Contact‑tracing now covers roughly 80 % of known contacts, yet many communities remain out of reach.

In a controversial move, the United States and Canada have imposed travel restrictions on anyone who has recently been in the DRC, a step that runs contrary to WHO guidance issued when the outbreak was declared a global health emergency.

Tedros has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in eastern Congo, arguing that medical resources alone cannot curb the spread unless the conflict is paused and humanitarian corridors opened. “Political action is needed to get responders where they are needed most,” he wrote.