Ebola outbreak ‘growing faster, ⁠⁠wider’ as DRC death toll passes 2,500: UN

By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters.

Key points

• The Ebola virus continues spreading "exponentially" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations has cautioned.
• More than 260 attacks on health workers have been documented previously six months, and eight health workers have been killed.
• Efforts to control the outbreak have additionally been complicated by the lack of a vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
• Efforts to stem the epidemic since the outbreak began in May have faced a number of challenges.
• "All of this is happening in an area that has had three decades of ⁠⁠conflict and is generating huge humanitarian needs, " Harneis remarked.

Meanwhile, the Ebola virus continues spreading "exponentially" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations has cautioned.

Sounding the alarm that the outbreak is "spreading faster and wider" than ever before, the UN's Senior Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis documented that more than 2, 500 residents have now died.

Meanwhile, the official pressed more funds to be put to work to try to control the spread, noting that the existing pool of capital will run out within weeks.

Conflict and a lack of administration control and infrastructure in the eastern DRC have disrupted the effort. Where health workers – plenty of of whom have died after contracting the virus – and facilities are able to operate, they have come under attack by frustrated and frightened locals, Harneis stated.

More than 260 attacks on health workers have been documented previously six months, and eight health workers have been killed. More than 160 healthcare workers have fallen ill, with 43 dying.

Aid workers have remarked numerous locals believe conspiracy theories that the ⁠⁠outbreak is a hoax, and have reacted angrily when health restrictions prevent them from personally burying loved ones.

Efforts to control the outbreak have additionally been complicated by the lack of a vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. It causes severe haemorrhagic fever.

Existing security reservations are additionally hampering the battle to stop the spread.

Notably, the UN official cautioned the epidemic could spread to neighbouring countries without a ramped-up response, and called on more staffing and resources to reach remote areas.

For now, ebola outbreak 'growing faster, ⁠⁠wider' as DRC death toll passes 2, 500: UN remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.