The speed of the spread is 8.5 times faster than the world’s largest known Ebola outbreak that started in West Africa in 2014, infecting 28,600 people and killing 11,325 by the time it was declared over in 2016. It has spread to 10 countries, including the US and Italy.
However, in the first two and a half months, the disease had infected only 423 people, which is just over 11% of the number of cases recorded in the same time period since the current outbreak was declared on 15 May.
It started in the northeast province of Ituri, bordering South Sudan and Uganda. While most cases remain concentrated here, the disease quickly spread south to the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, large parts of which are occupied by the Rwandan military and its proxy, the M23 armed group, in a war against the DRC for its mineral wealth.
Infections have also spread to Ituri’s north, to the province of Haut-Uélé, and westward to Tshopo. Across these five provinces, the outbreak has affected 49 health zones, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on 1 August.
“The convergence of insecurity, population displacement and mobility, and cross-border movements complicate response operations and increase the risk of further geographical spread,” it warned.
Neighbouring Uganda, which had also announced the outbreak on 15 May, had officially announced its end on 28 July. However, the spread in DRC is intensifying, the WHO said. The 567 new cases and 296 deaths in the latest full week of reporting marked the “highest weekly number” recorded since the outbreak, “underscoring the exceptional pace of transmission,” added its statement.
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When the 1st outbreak happened, a group of exceptionally brave medical doctors specializing in homeopathy, mostly British but others too, came there and offered FREE treatment. The Uganda’s gvmn had actually asked them to come (not sure it was Uganda). The WHO found out and immediately ordered the Africans an ultimatum: unless you throw these doctors out, all the WHO grants will be cancelled. The homeopaths begged them to at least be allowed to attend to the huge crowds of ppl dying outside of the hospital, on the grounds. They were ordered to leave. Word of it spread thru the Internet and, oh boy, the amount of online abuse these doctors received from the plebs. As much as I am horrified at this scale of human suffering —I can’t help it but feel a bit of schadenfreude.