Every health facility said they were full': fear that spread of Ebola in DRC is gathering pace

Ebola has returned in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising concern that the fragile healthcare system cannot manage an outbreak that may exceed confirmed cases. Aid groups and healthcare workers warn the virus is gaining momentum and spreading across multiple areas. The outbreak has been reported as the 17th in the country, with a mortality rate ranging from about 25% to 90%. Transmission occurs through body fluids or contaminated materials and can cause organ damage, blood vessel impairment, and severe bleeding. Since the first known victim died in Bunia on 24 April, nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded. Hospitals and healthcare facilities have become overwhelmed, and isolation capacity is limited, including at Salama hospital.

"The speed at which this Ebola outbreak is spreading is deeply worrying, said Rose Tchwenko, the DRC country director at the NGO Mercy Corps, on Thursday. The risk of wider spread is real, and more regional and global support is urgently needed. Hama Amado, a field coordinator in the city of Bunia for the Alima aid group, warned that the virus was gaining momentum and spreading in many areas. Everyone must mobilise, he told Associated Press on the same day. We are still far from saying that the situation is under control."

"It has been a week since the DRC reported its 17th outbreak of Ebola, a viral disease with a mortality rate of between about 25% and 90% that spreads through body fluids or contaminated materials and causes organ damage, blood vessel impairment and sometimes severe internal and external bleeding. An Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara that a crowd set on fire on Thursday after authorities refused to hand over a victim's dead body."

"Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded since the first known victim died in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province in the country's north-west, on 24 April. Mourners touched him during a funeral in the nearby town of Mongbwalu, and the virus spread from there. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities have quickly become overwhelmed."

"Trish Newport, an emergency programme manager at Medecins Sans Frontieres, said a team had identified suspected cases over the weekend at Bunia's Salama hospital but found no available isolation ward in the area. Every health facility they called"

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