DRC Ebola outbreak passes 8,000 cases as deaths near 4,000

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 8,000 confirmed cases and killed nearly 4,000 people, including 50 health workers. The outbreak was first announced in May. It is the worst in the country's history. The virus is spreading fastest in eastern provinces such as Ituri and North Kivu, where conflict and poor roads are making it hard for medical teams to reach patients. Earlier reports put infections above 6,000 and deaths near 3,000, but the latest health ministry data shows the outbreak is still growing.

In eastern DRC, gravediggers are working around the clock. One cemetery worker said the job is now full-time. The dead are as infectious as the living, so victims are buried quickly and safely. Treatment centres are seeing whole families struck down. In one case, a 40-year-old woman arrived with four of her children; two of them died with her. In another, a 12-month-old baby died of Ebola, and the mother then tested positive. A one-week-old girl whose mother died from Ebola is being cared for by a survivor. One patient, Charlotte, said she used to doubt Ebola existed. After being diagnosed, she said: 'Ebola is real, it kills people very fast.'

The outbreak is unfolding in an active combat zone. Much of eastern DRC is contested by government and rebel forces. International forces are caught in the middle. Aid convoys pass through gold-mining towns and armed groups, making every route tense. The rainy season is turning roads into muddy tracks, slowing deliveries to remote villages. Médecins Sans Frontières built a treatment centre in the grounds of a colonial-era hospital in just 10 days. Staff work in green zones and red zones, with protective clothing, decontamination, and food pushed through chutes to infected patients.

Health workers are under severe strain. Some local staff have gone on strike over unpaid wages, leaving treatment centres short of medics. MSF staff have also been hit. Thirteen people contracted Ebola before MSF began working in partnership with local teams, and some nurses and doctors died. New patients arrive every day, sometimes already severely ill. 'We sadly already know that they will most likely die with us,' said Jack Latour, a nursing activity manager at Doctors Without Borders. She described the disease as cruel because it carries stigma and fear, and because families and communities lose several members at once.

International support is falling short. The World Health Organization has warned that access to some communities is limited, and that movement in North Kivu is a major concern. The UN has called the response a virus of indifference. Less than 50% of foreign aid promised by the international community has been delivered. In one area, 600,000 people depend on food aid. A World Food Programme warehouse that looks huge holds only a month's supply, and staff say it could be empty by the end of the month. The outbreak covers an area roughly the size of France, so food, medicine, and trained staff are needed across many scattered communities.

The DRC government has said the situation may be easing in some areas. Aid workers on the ground doubt that. In North Kivu, Ebola treatment facilities are full and cannot take more patients. Agencies believe the real number of people affected could be three times the official figures, because many people do not believe Ebola is real or choose to die at home with their families rather than go to a treatment centre. Some areas are at the beginning of their outbreak, not the end. Medics cannot predict when the cycle of infection, death, and burial will stop.