Ebola in DR Congo 'Growing Exponentially' as Deaths Top 2,500, UN Warns Response Is Falling Behind

On Friday, from the city of Bunia in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations' Ebola coordinator told reporters that the epidemic around him now covers an area bigger than France. Julien Harneis said the outbreak is growing exponentially, and that it is expanding faster and wider than the response meant to contain it.

The numbers behind that warning are stark. More than 5,000 cases have been confirmed and the death toll is above 2,500, making this the largest Ebola outbreak in the country's history. It has already passed the 2018-2020 outbreak in both confirmed cases and deaths. Harneis said that of the more than 2,500 deaths recorded over roughly three months, half occurred in just the last 20 days.

This is the DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak. It was declared in May, after the virus is believed to have circulated for several weeks undetected. It is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a relatively rare form of Ebola. Unlike the Zaire strain behind many past outbreaks, Bundibugyo has no licensed vaccine and no specific treatment. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the epidemic is spreading substantially faster than earlier Ebola outbreaks. It has reached six provinces in the northeast, and cases have also been reported in neighbouring Uganda.

The terrain makes the work harder. Eastern DRC has long suffered insecurity, weak health infrastructure and the presence of armed groups, all of which limit access to affected communities. Harneis called conditions for the response "brutal," pointing to insecurity and the collapse of basic services, healthcare above all. The World Health Organization adds population movement and community mistrust to the list of complications.

Health workers are bearing a heavy share of the cost. Around 160 have been infected, and 43 of them have died. More than 260 attacks on health workers have been reported over the past six months. Misinformation and mistrust have made it harder to identify cases, isolate patients and trace the people they may have exposed.

On vaccines, the WHO and Africa CDC have allocated 70,000 doses of Ervebo to the DRC. The vaccine is licensed for outbreaks of the Zaire strain, not Bundibugyo. Of the doses, 20,000 are earmarked for a clinical trial and 50,000 for frontline and healthcare workers. Early laboratory and animal studies suggest Ervebo may offer some protection against Bundibugyo, but whether it works in people is not yet known.

Money is another pressure point. The UN has warned that existing resources could run out within weeks. It is asking for more international support for surveillance, testing, contact tracing and treatment capacity, especially in remote parts of eastern DRC. Harneis cautioned that without more resources, the outbreak could grow deadlier and spread further into neighbouring countries. The things to watch now are the Ervebo trial, the funding gap, and whether cases appear beyond Uganda and the DRC.