DR Congo Ebola outbreak tops 400 deaths as virus reaches major city

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has claimed more than 400 lives and continues to spread, according to the latest report from the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) released on Thursday. Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, 1,406 people have been confirmed infected, with 438 deaths, resulting in a fatality rate of just over 31 percent.

The epicenter of the outbreak remains in northeastern Ituri province, where over 83 percent of the deaths have occurred. Ituri borders South Sudan and Uganda, the latter of which has reported 20 cases, including two deaths. The virus has also spread to the neighboring provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.

A case has now been reported in Kisangani, a city of 1.5 million residents and the capital of Tshopo province. Tests on the body of a 24-year-old pregnant woman were positive for Ebola. Health authorities said the body was secretly transported by motorcycle from the Nia Nia health zone in Ituri.

In Haut-Uele province, adjacent to Ituri, one death and one infection were reported this week. The infected person is reportedly "on the run" from the Nia Nia health zone. However, authorities maintain that only three provinces are affected, stating that the cases in Tshopo and Haut-Uele were "imported" from Ituri.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. The deadliest outbreak, between 2018 and 2020, killed nearly 2,300 people. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment. The World Health Organization announced on Thursday that trials of potential treatments—the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir—have begun, but results may take months.

Health workers in Ituri face deep mistrust from locals, some of whom deny the disease's existence or accuse international organizations of profiteering. On Wednesday, an Ebola health center in the Nia Nia health zone was set on fire. Seven suspected cases in isolation fled, and two bodies of people who likely died of the virus were at the center. A group of young people opposed the sanitary burial, believing Ebola is a "business." Police intervened with warning shots, but protesters set the center ablaze. One police officer died after being attacked, and two young people were seriously injured. The protesters retrieved the two bodies, posing a major risk of spreading the virus.