UN: Person Dies of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Every 30 Minutes

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is rapidly escalating, with the disease now reportedly claiming one life approximately every 30 minutes. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher warned about the situation and called on the international community to urgently step up assistance to the country, AFP reports.

“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We cannot allow the virus to outrun our response,” Fletcher said. According to him, the current outbreak is developing at “the fastest rate ever recorded.”

Since May 15, when authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo officially declared the outbreak, more than 4,500 confirmed cases have reportedly been recorded, with at least 2,128 people having died. The UN estimates that the epidemic could become the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

“The epidemic is killing one person every 30 minutes. Many more people are at risk,” the UN official emphasized.

Fletcher said countries had already contributed nearly $300 million to the outbreak response fund. In addition, the UN has allocated another $30.5 million from its emergency fund, on top of the $24 million previously provided to support the Democratic Republic of the Congo and four other countries.

The disease has now been reported in six provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in Uganda. Cases have also been detected in areas near the border with South Sudan.

According to Fletcher, another 20 personnel have been deployed to the frontline, but this is not enough. The UN is calling for the number of teams responsible for safe and dignified burials to be doubled, treatment capacity to be tripled, contact tracing to be strengthened, and more experienced specialists to be sent to the region.

“It is critical to meet the region’s enormous needs for water, sanitation, health care, and other basic services,” Fletcher said, adding: “The world needs to wake up and come to the rescue.”

The current outbreak, the 17th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain. Over the past 50 years, Ebola has claimed more than 15,000 lives in Africa. The previous largest outbreak, which lasted from 2018 to 2020, resulted in nearly 2,300 deaths.

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