Ebola death toll in DR Congo climbs to 101

DRC records 10 deaths and 35 new cases, slams armed groups for hindering health response.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 101 confirmed Ebola deaths, expressing concern over armed groups hindering the response in the hardest-hit province of Ituri.

In its latest situation report on Monday, the DRC’s government said it recorded 35 new confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours, including 10 deaths.

The figures brought the total number of confirmed cases to 550 and the total number of confirmed deaths to 101.

The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the DRC was announced on May 15, though officials have since said it went undetected for weeks, leaving health authorities behind the curve and struggling to bring it under control.

The outbreak is concentrated in three provinces long beset by armed conflict: Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

The country’s government said the latest cases were recorded in 17 of Ituri’s health zones, as well as seven health zones in North Kivu and one in South Kivu.

The presence of armed groups in Djugu, Irumu and Mambasa – all in Ituri – was continuing “to limit humanitarian access in multiple health zones affected or at risk”, the report said.

It said Bunia, the capital of Ituri, was relatively calm.

According to researchers, more than 120 armed groups operate in the three provinces, with conflict there fuelled by ethnic tensions, political rivalries, corruption, and fighting for control of valuable natural resources.

The Reuters news agency also reported that mistrust and resistance have hampered the Ebola response in the DRC.

On Sunday, a burial team was attacked at the Nyamurongo cemetery in Bunia, leaving two people seriously injured and two vehicles damaged, a source familiar with the government response told Reuters.

The surge in Ebola cases in DRC – a country of more than 100 million people – is its 17th outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976.

The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency over the outbreak in mid-May. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus flagged the region’s status as a mining zone with “high levels of population movement” as a particular concern, raising the risk of spread to other areas or countries.

The Bundibugyo strain, first identified in western Uganda less than 20 years ago, is responsible for only the third known outbreak linked to this virus. Unlike the Zaire strain – which caused the 2014 West Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people – there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo.

Two potential vaccine candidates are not yet ready for human trials.

Neighbouring Uganda has recorded 19 cases and two deaths, all but five of them Congolese nationals who crossed the border. One confirmed Ugandan case involved a Congolese citizen who had travelled to the United Arab Emirates before entering Uganda.

The UAE has since announced a ban on travellers arriving from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan. Mauritius has also reportedly barred entry from the three countries. Uganda has closed its border with the DRC.

Tedros, who visited Uganda on Monday, urged authorities to reconsider the border closure, saying that blanket travel restrictions were ineffective. “I hope they reconsider,” he said.