The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is likely significantly larger and more advanced than official figures suggest, as response efforts struggle with delayed detection and dangerously low levels of contact tracing, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned today.
With only 20% of contacts currently being traced, health authorities are struggling to identify and isolate new chains of transmission. The virus may have been spreading undetected since before March, potentially as long as three months before the first official case was identified, allowing multiple chains of transmission to establish across communities and provinces. The combination of these factors dramatically increases the likelihood that the true scale of infections is far higher than reported, the IRC warned.
Rachel Howard, Senior Technical Emergency Health advisor at the IRC, said:
“The true scale of this Ebola outbreak is likely far worse than official figures suggest. When four out of five contacts are not being traced, it becomes incredibly difficult to contain the outbreak or even understand its true scale. We’re especially concerned about the virus spreading to other countries like Burundi or South Sudan.”
IRC teams warn that shortages of diagnostic cartridges and testing backlogs are slowing confirmation of cases, further obscuring the true spread of the outbreak. Seven confirmed Ebola patients have reportedly left treatment centers in the DRC, while more than six healthcare workers have died, including two doctors in recent days. The incidents underscore the deep fear and mistrust some communities continue to have toward Ebola prevention and treatment efforts.
People are avoiding health facilities, raising fears that those affected are remaining within communities rather than seeking treatment. As a result, transmission is spreading across multiple areas, and communities are losing trust in the response. Strengthening local, community-based prevention and infection control should be the immediate priority to control the outbreak at the source. Without urgent funding, the situation could deteriorate rapidly.
This outbreak is increasingly resembling the 2018–2020 North Kivu Ebola crisis, which infected thousands of people and was complicated by insecurity, population movement, and community resistance. However, unlike previous outbreaks, there is currently no approved vaccine available for this Ebola strain.
The IRC is calling for urgent international support to scale up contact tracing, surveillance, laboratory testing, treatment capacity, and community engagement efforts before the outbreak escalates further. It is also critical to build trust with affected communities, including through survivor-led awareness and risk awareness activities.
In response to the current escalating outbreak, whilst working in close coordination with the government health authorities who are leading the response, IRC has launched prevention and control activities, including distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as well as awareness raising activities amidst communities at risk, rehabilitation of triage areas and rehabilitation/construction of showers, latrines and waste disposal areas.
In Uganda, IRC is working with the Ministry of Health on the border to support infection, prevention and control activities including screening people coming across the border. IRC is also supporting response coordination in Uganda.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Rescue Committee (IRC) .
