BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
The head of the World Health Organization concluded a high-profile visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday with a meeting with President Félix Tshisekedi, warning that the country’s worsening Ebola outbreak requires stronger international support, expanded health system capacity, and deeper community engagement if it is to be brought under control.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spent several days in Congo assessing the response to an outbreak that has rapidly become one of the largest Ebola emergencies in the country’s history. His visit came as aid organizations raised concerns that the true scale of the epidemic may be far greater than official figures currently indicate.
After meeting President Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, Tedros emphasized that success in combating Ebola depends not only on medical interventions but also on public trust and community participation.
“This Ebola can be stopped when the community owns the agenda and with strong government leadership,” he said. “We need to strengthen the capacity of the health systems in the affected areas.”
During his visit, Tedros traveled to Ituri province, where the first infections linked to the current outbreak were confirmed. There he met health workers, local officials, and affected communities, witnessing both encouraging developments and significant challenges facing the response effort.
Among the positive signs were several patients who had recovered from the disease and been officially discharged from treatment. Health officials reported five certified recoveries, offering hope that containment measures can be effective when cases are detected early and treated promptly.
However, Tedros also stressed the urgent need to increase testing capabilities, treatment facilities, surveillance efforts, and public outreach programs. Health authorities continue to struggle with identifying infected individuals quickly enough to prevent further spread of the virus, particularly in remote areas with limited medical infrastructure.
The WHO and the Congolese government jointly acknowledged over the weekend that the outbreak presents a difficult and rapidly evolving challenge. Officials said health teams face major obstacles in detecting new infections, isolating patients, tracing contacts, and conducting safe burials, all of which are essential components of Ebola containment strategies.
According to the latest available figures, hundreds of suspected Ebola cases have been reported across affected regions. Congo’s government said the number of confirmed infections had risen significantly following a new wave of positive laboratory test results. Most confirmed cases have been concentrated in Ituri province, while additional infections have been identified in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
The outbreak has spread across regions already burdened by years of insecurity and armed conflict. Ongoing violence has displaced large numbers of people, disrupted healthcare services, and complicated efforts by medical teams to monitor the disease and reach vulnerable communities.
Security concerns intensified further over the weekend when fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group linked to Islamic State, carried out an attack in the city of Beni in North Kivu province. Government officials said the assault killed at least 15 civilians and one soldier, underscoring the difficult conditions under which health workers are attempting to contain the outbreak.
The virus has also crossed international borders, with neighboring Uganda confirming Ebola cases linked to the Congolese outbreak. The development has heightened concerns among regional health authorities and prompted increased monitoring efforts in East Africa.
Despite the official case counts, humanitarian organizations believe the epidemic may be substantially larger than current statistics suggest.
The International Rescue Committee warned that the outbreak likely went undetected for weeks, and possibly months, before health authorities identified the first confirmed cases in mid-May. According to the organization, the virus may have been circulating silently for as long as three months before its discovery, allowing transmission chains to become deeply embedded within affected communities.
The aid agency expressed particular concern over weaknesses in contact tracing, one of the most important tools for controlling Ebola outbreaks. It estimated that only around one-fifth of contacts linked to confirmed cases are currently being monitored by health authorities.
“When four out of five contacts are not being traced, it becomes incredibly difficult to contain the outbreak or even understand its true scale,” said Rachel Howard, the International Rescue Committee’s senior technical emergency health adviser.
Public health experts warn that low contact-tracing rates can allow infected individuals to continue transmitting the virus unnoticed, increasing the likelihood of additional outbreaks and making containment efforts far more difficult.
Another challenge confronting health authorities is the specific strain responsible for the outbreak. While Congolese medical teams have extensive experience responding to Ebola epidemics, the current outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain, a less common variant of the virus for which no approved vaccine currently exists.
The absence of an approved vaccine has intensified efforts among international researchers and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate development of new medical countermeasures. Global health organization CEPI announced plans to provide approximately $60 million in funding to support vaccine development efforts involving Moderna and other research groups.
Health experts involved in the project said candidate vaccines could potentially be ready for early-stage clinical trials within a matter of months, offering hope for future protection against the Bundibugyo strain if development efforts proceed successfully.
Meanwhile, international support for Congo’s response continues to grow. China announced on Monday that it would dispatch a team of medical specialists to assist Congolese authorities and international health agencies in tackling the outbreak.
As the epidemic continues to expand, global health officials warn that the coming weeks will be critical. Strengthening surveillance, improving access to treatment, increasing contact tracing, and securing additional international resources are expected to determine whether the outbreak can be contained before it spreads further across Congo and neighboring countries.
For now, health authorities remain locked in a race against time as they attempt to halt one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks the region has faced in recent years.
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