Alarm is growing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Ebola has reached 49 health zones across several provinces in the country’s largest outbreak on record. Ituri has borne the heaviest burden, reporting the overwhelming majority of infections and deaths.
The United Nations and its partners are responding by establishing the DRC’s biggest Ebola treatment centre, equipped with 100 beds, as well as a new transit centre designed to support earlier detection and referrals. The World Health Organization has warned that response operations must be expanded urgently.
According to the agencies, conflict, displacement, cross-border movement and deteriorating humanitarian conditions are helping fuel the disease’s rapid spread.
