Confirmed cases of Ebola in Congo have reached 2,344 and at least 930 people have died, the country's Ministry of Health said Monday. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has called it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.
The ministry said 724 people remain in isolation or in hospitals and that patient care and support capacities are being intensified, with 22 new recoveries recorded in 24 hours.
The deaths were recorded out of the 2,344 cases confirmed as of Saturday, including 37 new deaths recorded in a 24-hour span Friday into Saturday, one of the highest totals, the ministry said.
A total of five provinces have been affected, all in the eastern region where rebel violence is rampant, and safety fears have restricted the response in the worst-affected province of Ituri, authorities said.
At least 12 attacks, mostly fueled by skepticism and rumors, have been recorded against health facilities and teams since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, and many health workers have walked off their jobs in protest of lack of payment. At least 36 health workers infected with the virus have died.
Dozens of healthcare workers at an Ebola virus treatment center in northeast Congo went on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses on Monday, and on Tuesday they agreed to resume work under the condition that the government pay them within 72 hours, the striking health workers said. "Just one day of strike action has already caused damage. Patients were unable to access the center," the workers said. "We hold the government solely responsible for any loss of life if the site closes after this ultimatum."
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that roughly 80% of new Ebola cases in eastern Congo are emerging from unknown chains of transmission, a sign the outbreak is spreading faster than health officials can track. WHO emergency chief Chikwe Ihekweazu said many of the newly reported deaths were people who died in their communities without ever reaching a health facility and that the outbreak "continues to outpace the response efforts."
Treatment capacity in Bunia is now close to 800 beds, and laboratory capacity has grown from one lab to 14 labs, Ihekweazu said.
The Congolese health ministry said suspected cases have been recorded in the provinces of Tshopo and Haut-Uele, and a government report published late Wednesday said two cases were suspected in Kisangani in Tshopo; the health minister did not say how many were suspected in Haut-Uele.
The government report said one of the two suspected cases in Tshopo was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, while the other "has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks," and authorities were investigating.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on July 11 that a U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in Congo has tested positive for the Ebola virus and that it was working with the person's employer, U.S. agencies, public health authorities and Congolese partners to prevent further transmission and identify close contacts; the CDC provided no further details.
In the first week of the outbreak, an American doctor working in Congo tested positive for the virus and was transferred to Germany for treatment; after weeks of care at a hospital in Germany he recovered and, with family members who were quarantined separately, returned to the United States in June.
Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15 after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, and health officials say the outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment; clinical trials for treatment began last week after researchers launched a study.
Cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.
Initially, Trump administration officials had said the United States planned to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them home, but that project was suspended after an order from a Kenyan court; the Trump administration has asked Congress for $1.4 billion in supplemental funding to respond to the outbreak in the Congo, Uganda and elsewhere.