The World Health Organization has warned that rising insecurity is undermining efforts to contain Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite progress in some of the outbreak’s original hotspots.
Speaking at a United Nations briefing in Geneva on Friday, November 13, WHO Health Emergencies Programme chief Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu said infections had declined in several previously hard-hit areas, including Bunia.
However, new cases were emerging in rural communities where difficult terrain and violence were limiting access to treatment.
Officials said the outbreak was still generating between 400 and 500 new cases each week. Attacks on healthcare were disrupting surveillance and treatment, while displacement made it harder to maintain contact with affected communities.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s November 13 update recorded 11,197 confirmed cases and 5,471 related deaths in DR Congo, using national data through November 11. Eight provinces had been affected since the outbreak began.
The agency cautioned that reported case and death figures remained under review.
UNICEF separately highlighted the impact on children. Its November 13 statement said 2,959 children under 18 had been confirmed with Ebola and 1,737 had died as of November 4.
Children represented 28 per cent of confirmed cases but 35 per cent of deaths in the age-specific data available to the agency. More than 2,280 children had also been orphaned or separated from their families.
UN officials called for safer access, stronger cooperation with private health providers and continued international support. They said research into treatments and vaccines could strengthen the response, but existing measures such as early detection, contact tracing and patient care remained essential.
