The World Health Organization has warned that the Democratic Republic of Congo’s worst Ebola outbreak is still spreading in parts of the country despite signs of improvement in some regions.
The outbreak has killed 3,475 people out of 7,200 recorded cases across seven provinces as of September 12, according to Olivier le Polain, head of the WHO’s epidemiology and analytics response unit.
Although the Congolese Government indicated at the weekend that the outbreak might have peaked in August, the WHO said national figures did not reflect the situation in several Ebola hotspots.
“We are seeing some progress, particularly in Ituri province and its capital Bunia, some areas are under control,” le Polain told a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
“However, there are other areas like in Butembo in North Kivu where we’re seeing the numbers come up.”
Le Polain said the number of new Ebola cases and deaths recorded each week in North Kivu had doubled over the past two weeks.
The province accounted for about 45 per cent of new cases recorded in the previous week, underscoring the continued spread of the disease in the region.
The WHO expert described the outbreak as “vast”, despite signs of slower transmission in some parts of Ituri province, where the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak was first detected in May.
He said no new case had been recorded in South Kivu province since the end of May.
However, the detection of a case in South Ubangi province means the disease has now been recorded in seven provinces.
Le Polain also said Upper Uele province was recording between 30 and 40 new cases every week.
He said the latest indicators did not yet show the level of improvement that the WHO and other agencies responding to the outbreak were seeking.
The WHO’s assessment suggests that while transmission has slowed in some areas, the outbreak continues to pose a significant public health challenge, particularly in North Kivu and Upper Uele.