The Democratic Republic of Congo is struggling to contain the world's fastest-growing Ebola outbreak, with aid workers warning the response is falling behind the virus. More than two months after the outbreak was declared, health officials are battling security concerns, frontline workers remain unpaid, and there are fears the disease could spread into new communities.
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TRANSCRIPT
More than two months after an Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo, health officials say the virus is spreading faster than the response designed to stop it.
The outbreak has now spread to five provinces, with nearly 3,900 confirmed infections and more than 1,700 deaths.
But the World Health Organization believes the true number of cases could be several times higher, warning many infections are still going undetected.
After visiting the outbreak's epicentre, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he's deeply concerned.
"I think one thing that's different about this outbreak is the unprecedented speed. It's moving really, really fast. And I can't hide from you my feelings, maybe. ... I'm deeply, deeply concerned by how the situation is on the ground. It has, of course, Ituri is the epicentre, but already, as you have seen in the report, five provinces have been affected."
Unlike previous outbreaks, health officials say many people are dying before authorities even know they're infected.
That means contact tracers are missing entire chains of transmission, allowing the virus to spread silently through communities.
Mr Ghebreyesus says communities themselves must become part of the response.
"We have community deaths, which are 80 per cent of them outside the contact list we have. So they're dying before even we know that they are sick or they have Ebola. If the surveillance at the community level is strong, if the communities themselves do it if it's decentralised, then the gap could be reduced."
For those trying to contain the outbreak, those gaps are all too familiar.
Every day, teams wearing protective suits risk their lives to disinfect homes where Ebola victims have died.
Among them is Wiza Bondele.
He also worked during Congo's 2018 Ebola outbreak and returned believing his experience could once again help save lives.
Instead, he says he and many colleagues have spent months risking their lives without being paid, forcing them to go on strike.
“Yes, we went on strike because we saw that we were working under dangerous conditions and sacrificing our energy. We work in risky situations. You may find yourself in a situation where a patient is vomiting blood, and you have to clean it up. We face those kinds of risks, and we deserve both our allowance and our salary. When we realised that the authorities were saying nothing about our pay, we decided to go on strike.”
Despite joining the strike, Mr Bondele returned to work.
Not because the dispute had been resolved.
But because every day response teams stay away, gives Ebola the opportunity to spread.
For Mr Bondele, the danger doesn't end when he leaves work.
He says every shift carries the risk of taking the virus home to his own family.
"I want to keep working, but I'm in a high-risk environment. I could become infected with this virus, and then I could infect my family and my neighbours. So I realise that because of me, many people could die. That's why I've decided that I want to leave this job."
The challenges extend well beyond the treatment centres.
Insecurity has become another obstacle to containing the outbreak.
Aid agencies have suspended some Ebola operations after treatment centres came under attack from angry crowds, forcing staff and patients to flee.
Mercy Corps' Director of Ebola Response Operations, Manon Dumortier, says every interruption sets the response back.
"Insecurity will slow down our activities and therefore the response, right? A suspension like the one we've seen in Nyakunde like, about ten days, is just going to slow down any effort, any win, that we had previously gotten, you know, whether it is with WASH interventions (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene interventions), but also building the trust of the community, you know, I think, what we are really trying to build, not only Mercy Corps, but all the partners involved in this response, is community trust about this response for us, together to win over Ebola."
The challenges of containing the outbreak became even clearer this week.
Authorities intercepted a river boat carrying around 200 passengers after one traveller developed Ebola symptoms, in a bid to stop the virus reaching the capital, Kinshasa.
The incident highlights how difficult it is to contain the disease in a vast country where rivers are the main transport routes and many communities remain isolated.
Even so, Mr Ghebreyesus believes the outbreak can still be stopped - if the response can finally outrun the virus.
"It can be stopped. But we need to do the right things. We need to do it with speed and we need to be faster. Not as fast, actually. Unless we're faster, we cannot catch up. It's ahead of us. It's moving fast and it's ahead of us. We're playing a catch-up, but from a very far distance now. It's far ahead of us. So we have to move faster in order to catch and stop it."
