It’s spreading faster than we thought – WHO raises fresh Ebola alert

The World Health Organization has warned that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may have spread beyond the country’s borders and into additional provinces, heightening fears of a wider regional health crisis.

WHO representative Anne Ancia said investigations into the outbreak were revealing a broader spread of infections than initially reported.

“The more we are investigating this outbreak, the more we realise that it has already disseminated at least a little bit across border and also in other provinces,” BBC quoted Ancia as saying.

According to health authorities, Ituri province, identified as the epicentre of the outbreak, remains difficult to secure due to frequent population movements and insecurity in the area.

Ancia described the province as “a very unsecured area with lots of movement of population”, noting that the situation was complicating efforts to trace contacts and contain the virus.

She also disclosed that the outbreak had spread into South Kivu province, a region already facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis.

The latest outbreak has so far claimed at least 131 lives, while more than 513 suspected Ebola cases had been recorded in Congo as of Tuesday.

Global concern intensified after reports emerged that the virus had crossed into neighbouring Uganda, where one death has already been confirmed.

The WHO recently declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern following consultations with authorities in Congo and Uganda.

The agency, however, stated that the situation had not yet met the criteria for classification as a pandemic emergency under International Health Regulations.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic”.

Meanwhile, a modelling study released by the London-based MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis suggested that the actual number of infections could be significantly higher than official figures.

The study said there had been “substantial” under-detection of cases and warned that the outbreak could already involve more than 1,000 infections.

It further stated that the outbreak was “larger than currently ascertained” and that its “true magnitude remains uncertain”.

Health officials also confirmed that there is currently no approved vaccine for the strain of Ebola linked to the latest outbreak, although the WHO said it was assessing whether existing treatments and drugs could provide some level of protection.