IRC Reports Ebola Cases in DRC and Uganda

The New York-based International Rescue Committee warned Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda is spreading faster than responders can contain it and risks becoming the deadliest on record without urgent international action.

The organization said the outbreak is no longer limited to remote areas of the DRC's northeastern Ituri province. Cases and contacts have reached larger regional hubs including Goma in North Kivu province and Uganda's capital, Kampala. "The outbreak is spreading faster than the response, with over 900 suspected cases and at least 223 deaths already reported across DRC and Uganda, including in major transport hubs like Goma and Kampala," the IRC wrote.

The IRC said conflict, mass displacement, and international aid cuts have left health systems weaker than during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, which the World Health Organization said killed at least 2,299 people. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant with no approved vaccines or therapeutics.

Previous Bundibugyo outbreaks recorded case fatality rates between 30 percent and 50 percent.

International Response WHO chief Dr.

He added that the agency knows how to stop the virus and has ended every previous Ebola outbreak. Last week Tedros classified the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO continues to rate the national risk as very high, the regional risk as high, and the global risk as low.

, and Australia have imposed travel restrictions. U.S. is restricted for foreign travelers who have recently been in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan. U.S. nationals returning from those countries are being screened at Dulles Airport, with enhanced screening also underway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and scheduled to begin at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.