WHO hopes to curb Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo within three months

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that it hopes to halt the accelerating spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo within three months, while warning that the outbreak will not have ended by then.

According to the organization, the epidemic, which began in the volatile Ituri province in the northeast of the country, is spreading at a faster rate than any previous Ebola outbreak, with 4,499 confirmed cases and 2,061 deaths.

Abdoulaye Mahmoud, head of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said that if all aspects of the response are implemented “simultaneously across the five transmission zones, we expect a turning point in the trajectory of the epidemic within three months.”

The UN-affiliated organization emphasized that controlling transmission does not mean the end of the outbreak, as surveillance efforts must continue to prevent the virus from resurging.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15, and two days later, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, its second-highest alert level.

Since then, the disease has spread to several provinces in the eastern part of the country, where violence, weak state presence, and fragile health infrastructure have hampered response efforts.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that improving contact tracing represents the “primary operational challenge,” noting that the goal is to raise the contact follow-up rate to 95 percent, compared to the current level of around 80 percent.

He added, “We are also working to triple treatment capacity, aiming to provide 3,000 beds within 12 weeks.”

Ebola virus is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes hemorrhagic fever. It has claimed more than 15,000 lives in Africa over the past 50 years.