The World Health Organization (WHO) says it needs an additional 5,000 health workers to help contain a rapidly worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Gatekeepers News reports that the UN health agency said on Tuesday that the outbreak, officially detected on May 15, has spread to six provinces in the conflict-affected eastern and northeastern parts of the country.
According to official Congolese figures cited by the WHO, more than 6,600 people have been confirmed infected since May 15, with 3,175 deaths recorded.
Health facilities have been overwhelmed by the rising number of Ebola cases and are facing shortages of medical personnel and other resources.
Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding, organ failure and death.
The WHO said it plans to establish 3,000 beds in Ebola treatment centres across the affected areas.
Luca Fontana, a senior technical official with the WHO, said three medical workers are required for every patient, meaning about 9,000 health workers would need to be trained to fully staff the planned treatment capacity.
“More than 900 beds have been built within the first two months of the response, and we have now reached close to 1,400 beds across 59 treatment centres,” Fontana told a press briefing in Geneva.
“Despite this extraordinary effort, we estimate that another 1,600 beds will be required to meet the rapidly growing needs,” he added.
“Right now we have nearly 4,000 healthcare workers currently working inside the treatment centres. So it means we need 5,000 more.”
Fontana said the health ministry in Kinshasa was working urgently to identify qualified medical personnel from other parts of the country who could be deployed to the affected provinces.
“The problem is to identify those fast enough to make sure that we can cover the growing need,” he said.
“Every treatment centre that is fully staffed and functional means more life saved and a stronger chance of bringing this outbreak under control.”
The outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment, although several vaccines and treatments are undergoing testing.
The outbreak has affected areas in northern and eastern DRC where state presence is limited, healthcare infrastructure is inadequate and armed groups have operated for decades.
Fontana said the geographical spread of patients seeking treatment was also becoming increasingly concerning.
He explained that while most patients initially admitted to treatment centres came from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, patients were now arriving from villages “far beyond” the original epicentre.
This was “a clear sign” that the outbreak was spreading and that the WHO response “must adapt”, he said.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades.
The deadliest previous Ebola outbreak in the DRC killed nearly 2,300 people out of about 3,500 reported cases between 2018 and 2020.
