The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued an urgent call for additional financial and operational support to combat the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, warning that the crisis has officially outpaced current response efforts. Dr. Vasee Moorthy, the acting lead of the WHO's R&D Blueprint, announced in Geneva on Tuesday that the situation has escalated into the largest Ebola outbreak the country has ever encountered.
According to Dr. Moorthy, the scale of the emergency requires a significant expansion of resources. He emphasized the critical need for increased funding to bolster treatment capacity, field investigation teams, community health workers, and safe burial teams. The response strategy must prioritize regions where the virus is currently active as well as areas identified as high-risk for future transmission.
Statistical data as of August 1 indicates that the outbreak has resulted in 3,748 confirmed cases and 1,657 confirmed deaths, with 708 patients having recovered. The virus has spread across 49 health zones within five provinces. Currently, health officials are monitoring approximately 17,000 contacts, with more than 80% of these individuals receiving daily follow-ups.
Regarding medical interventions, Dr. Moorthy noted that there are currently no proven safe or effective treatments, vaccines, or preventive medicines specifically designed for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, though early access to supportive care remains a vital life-saving measure. Clinical trials for experimental treatments and a post-exposure preventive medicine are currently underway within the Congo. Furthermore, two candidate vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain have entered Phase 1 clinical trials in the United Kingdom and Canada.
