WHO Says Ebola Outbreak in DRC Exceeds Response Capacity

The World Health Organization warned Monday that an Ebola outbreak centered in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading faster than response operations can contain it. Officials reported at least 220 suspected deaths so far. The agency said the epidemic is outpacing current efforts and urged neighboring countries to act immediately.

Residents attacked a hospital in Mongbwalu town in Ituri province on Saturday and again on Sunday. A medical director at the facility said seven additional patients escaped during four waves of attacks on Sunday. A suspected patient in critical condition died while trying to flee.

Similar violence occurred Thursday when a crowd set fire to a treatment center near Bunia after authorities refused to release a body for traditional burial.

Uganda confirmed two new cases on Monday, bringing its total to seven. Both new patients are health workers at a private facility in Kampala. The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. Officials noted that insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, along with the absence of a licensed vaccine, complicates containment.

Earlier this month the agency declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths were recorded in the DRC and two deaths in Uganda.

“We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us.”