Congo Ebola Outbreak Kills 3,500 as UN Warns Funding Gaps Could Reignite Epidemic

The United Nations has issued a stark warning that the Ebola outbreak ravaging the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, with nearly 3,500 deaths and more than 7,200 reported cases now recorded across 62 health zones.

UN Special Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis, in a statement on Tuesday, said the deadly Bundibugyo virus outbreak remained a massive and deadly epidemic and called for urgent international support to help responders on the ground. "If we don't have the resources, the epidemic will come back. It remains a deadly and massive epidemic," Harneis warned.

Latest data from September 12 indicates 7,200 reported cases of Ebola and close to 3,500 deaths across 62 health zones, according to the World Health Organisation. The virus is now present in seven provinces covering what Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response at WHO, described as "a very vast geographic area" spanning two time zones. "Although the response has been unprecedented in its scale, the epidemic continues to expand," le Polain said.

In partnership with Congolese authorities, UN agencies and partners have been assisting in tackling the outbreak since the emergency was declared in mid-May. But responders face immense challenges in a region that has experienced decades of violent insecurity and development setbacks. "In many areas, the roads are massive potholes — not even potholes — trucks disappear into the mud. In many areas, the access, even by small plane, is complicated. And then there's violence against the response," Harneis explained. He noted that cases span from Bunia in Ituri to Sud-Ubangi at the far end of the country, a distance comparable to that from Geneva to Dublin.

The veteran aid coordinator warned that the 1.3 billion dollar humanitarian response is only 49 per cent funded, while Ebola "makes things much worse for all Congolese," from worsening hunger levels to falling attendance at health centres, increases in maternal mortality and interrupted treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. "We've done a lot of positive work through the scaling up bed capacity, but unless we get more specialised medical care, we will eventually come to a plateau," Harneis continued, stressing the need for countries to deploy international emergency medical teams immediately.

He warned that another one billion dollars would be needed to sustain the response beyond the first six months. "If you don't provide the care, if you don't finance the care, if you don't provide the technical resources, then Ebola is a live enemy and will come back at us," he said, adding that while some member states had indicated willingness to send teams, far greater support and dedication of resources were required.

WHO epidemiologist le Polain said the outbreak would take "many, many months to get under control fully." He described how infections were beginning to decrease in some areas but rise "exponentially" in others, including North Kivu, where the number of weekly cases has doubled from about 100 to 200. "We're worried about particularly Butembo and Katwa," he said, identifying the major axis in the northern part of North Kivu as an area of particular concern.

The funding crisis has been compounded by the nature of the Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or specific treatments. The scale of the outbreak has already exceeded the DRC's previous deadliest Ebola epidemic, which occurred between 2018 and 2020 and killed 2,299 people out of 3,381 confirmed cases. As of September 7, the case fatality rate stood at 48.3 per cent among confirmed cases.

The World Health Organisation has also warned that late detection of cases continues to increase the risk of further spread within families, communities and healthcare facilities, while the sustained level of transmission in the DRC continues to pose a risk of cross-border spread. Neighbouring Uganda has already reported 20 cases, and one case has been diagnosed in France.

The UN's appeal for additional funding comes as health agencies intensify containment efforts, with concerns that a prolonged shortfall could weaken critical interventions and lead to further loss of lives. The European Union has announced it will provide testing kits worth approximately 2.9 million dollars to support the response, but aid officials say far more is needed to prevent the outbreak from spiraling further out of control. With the epidemic now affecting seven provinces and weekly cases doubling in parts of North Kivu, the coming weeks will determine whether the international community can mobilise the resources necessary to bring the outbreak under control before it spreads even further.