DR Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak spreads to eighth province

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to an eighth province in the country’s north, authorities said on Sunday.

The Health Ministry has recorded two cases, including one death, in Nord-Ubangi province, bordering Central African Republic. The ministry said both patients were men in their 20s living in the Wapinda health zone, which borders Bas-Uele province, where Ebola cases have been reported previously.

Authorities have recorded at least 9,400 cases, including more than 4,500 deaths, in the outbreak declared in mid-May, making it the deadliest in DR Congo’s history.

The virus has spilled over into other countries including neighbouring Uganda, which has since declared itself free of the disease, and Kenya, which recorded a seventh case on Saturday. Central African Republic has not recorded any confirmed cases.

Ituri province in eastern DR Congo remains the disease’s epicentre, accounting for almost three quarters of confirmed cases, according to the government’s most recent data, which shows 66 health zones have been affected since the start of the outbreak.

“We see pockets of Ebola generally going down, but unfortunately geographically it’s spreading out,” World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi told Associated Press in an interview in Beni, eastern DR Congo, on Friday.

Janabi said one of the biggest challenges has been convincing those who are infected to seek medical help, adding that some deaths happen in the community outside health centres.

Nord-Ubangi is located between Sud-Ubangi and Bas-Uele, the last two provinces the disease had spread to along the border with Central African Republic, where recurring armed violence has forced thousands to flee and take refuge in Congolese border communities. Access in the region can be difficult due to poor roads and limited communication networks.

The spread of the outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, is fuelled by mass population movements, rebel violence, mistrust and poor working conditions of front-line workers.