A senior United Nations humanitarian official said on Friday that the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills a victim every 30 minutes, calling for greater international action. “The outbreak is the fastest growing on record,” Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said in a statement. “We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets any further ahead of us.” The outbreak has killed at least 2,128 people out of more than 4,500 confirmed cases since it was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 15, and the United Nations has already said it is on track to become the worst Ebola outbreak on record.
“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Fletcher said, reviewing the latest efforts to contain the virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes a hemorrhagic fever. “We cannot allow the virus to outpace our response.”
“The epidemic kills someone every 30 minutes,” Fletcher said, warning that “a greater number of people are at risk.”
Fletcher said that countries have so far donated about $300 million to a fund to combat the outbreak.
After a meeting of UN agencies, he said he had allocated another $30.5 million from the UN Emergency Fund, which will be added to the $24 million already allocated to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo and four other countries tackle the outbreak.
Cases have been reported in six provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in addition to Uganda. Cases have also been reported near the border with South Sudan.
Fletcher said an additional 20 staff had been sent to the “front lines” of Ebola but more were needed.
“We need to double the number of teams ensuring safe and dignified burials, triple treatment capacity, improve contact tracing and deploy more experienced managers,” Fletcher said.
“It is crucial that we meet the enormous needs for water, hygiene, healthcare and other basic services in the region.”
“The world needs to wake up and show up,” he said.
The 17th Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no known treatment or vaccine.
The Ebola virus has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 killed nearly 2,300 people out of 3,500 recorded cases.
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