KINSHASA/GENEVA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday reported 1,118 confirmed Ebola cases, including 291 deaths, as the WHO warned that the outbreak continues to outpace the response.
An update released Wednesday by the government showed that 122 people have recovered, while 408 patients are under care. The fatality rate stood at 26.0 percent. Epidemiological surveillance remains active, leading to the identification of 138 suspected cases. The contact follow-up rate stood at 77.1 percent.
The latest figures came as WHO officials said the response had made visible progress in recent weeks, but remained constrained by insufficient contact tracing, limited treatment and isolation capacity, challenges in safe burials, insecurity and weak humanitarian access in the affected eastern provinces.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva that the Ebola response had "scaled up significantly" under the leadership of the DRC government since the outbreak was first reported five weeks ago.
According to Tedros, treatment capacity has increased from fewer than 10 beds to more than 500 beds across 19 health centers, while laboratory capacity has risen from about 30 tests a day at the central laboratory in Kinshasa to more than 2,000 tests a day across nine laboratories in three provinces.
Tedros noted that early detection and supportive care can save lives. But he cautioned that "the outbreak is continuing to outpace the response."
"Contact tracing is still not at the level needed. Capacity at treatment and isolation centers is insufficient. Safe and dignified burials remain a major challenge. The health system is under pressure," he said.
In neighboring Uganda, Tedros said a new case was reported on Sunday, the first in two weeks, bringing the country's total to 20 confirmed cases and two confirmed deaths. All cases in Uganda are linked to the outbreak in the DRC.
Marie Roseline Belizaire, WHO regional emergency director for Africa, said at the briefing that each confirmed case could have between 120 and 200 contacts based on previous experience, while some community deaths could generate even larger numbers.
The challenge is particularly acute in Mongbwalu, in Ituri province, the mining area considered the epicenter of the outbreak, where many patients are young men who travel from different provinces in search of work and may move again when they become ill.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said the response was in "a much better place" than four weeks ago, but "nowhere where we need to be."
Tedros also said preparations had been completed for a clinical trial expected to start in the DRC next week to evaluate whether two antivirals, MBP134 and remdesivir, can reduce mortality among patients with Bundibugyo virus disease, either alone or in combination. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
Vasee Moorthy, senior adviser in the office of the WHO chief scientist, said about 1,000 participants would need to be involved. "It means that we are looking at around 1,000 that would need to be enrolled in the trial before we expect that there will be an answer about the safety and efficacy of any of these options."
France reported Wednesday its first confirmed Ebola case after a humanitarian worker tested positive upon returning from the DRC. France has identified and isolated five people who may have been exposed to Ebola after sharing a flight with the health worker.
The patient is an "experienced doctor returning from a mission" who was unaware that he had contracted the virus, said French Health Minister Stephanie Rist. "He had no symptoms when he boarded the plane, and he was not contagious (...) As he is a doctor and developed headaches on the plane, he raised the alert" so that he could be taken care of upon arrival in Paris, Rist noted.
The man was placed in isolation at a hospital as soon as his flight landed. He will remain there "for 21 days, the duration of the incubation period," Rist added. The incubation period for Ebola is typically between two and 21 days.
In a statement on Wednesday, the DRC government said the doctor had been deployed by the humanitarian organization ALIMA and worked from May 22 to June 19 at an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Ituri province, one of the epicenters of the outbreak, where he served as an "intensive-care" physician.
After completing his rotation, he left Ituri on June 19 and transited through the capital, Kinshasa, where he stayed until June 22 before traveling to France on June 23, said the statement.
The statement also stressed that a person infected with Ebola "becomes contagious only after the onset of symptoms," and that the disease is transmitted only through direct contact.
Abdirahman Mahamud, director for WHO's Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations, said the patient was "doing well," with "mild symptoms and fever." He praised the French authorities for taking rapid action and said the risk to France and the global population remained low.
The global risk posed by the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa remains low despite rising case numbers in the affected region, said Tedros. He also urged against panic, saying Ebola cases detected outside Africa had remained below 30 in the past 50 years.
"No need for panic," Tedros said. "The risk is low. I repeat, the risk is low."
The French case nevertheless underscores the risks faced by frontline responders. Tedros said over 80 health workers had been infected while responding to the outbreak. ■