At least 930 people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

The ministry said 2,344 confirmed infections had been recorded by July 18, including dozens of deaths during the latest 24-hour reporting period. A further 724 patients were receiving treatment in isolation, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The latest figures mark a sharp rise from the 2,073 cases and 796 deaths reported by the World Health Organization on July 16.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the epidemic as the third-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. He said it had expanded during the previous month more rapidly than any earlier outbreak.

By comparison, the major Ebola epidemic that struck DR Congo between 2018 and 2020 took more than 10 months to reach 2,000 confirmed infections. The current outbreak passed that threshold only two months after it was declared.

Transmission chains remain undetected

More than 80% of newly confirmed patients were not included on lists of people known to have been in contact with Ebola cases, indicating that health teams are still failing to identify some chains of transmission.

Around two-thirds of deaths have occurred within local communities among patients who never received care in a medical facility, Tedros said during a WHO briefing  .

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of infected people, contaminated objects or the bodies of those who died from the disease.

The outbreak was declared on May 15 after several deaths were reported in Ituri, a mineral-rich province in northeastern Congo where numerous armed groups operate. Infections have since been detected across five Congolese provinces and in neighbouring Uganda.

Conflict obstructs health response

The continuing armed conflict in eastern Congo has complicated efforts to trace contacts, reach affected communities and safely treat patients.

A treatment centre in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, was attacked last week. Other medical facilities and health teams have also faced violence and resistance during the response.

The epidemic is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which no vaccine or specialised treatment has yet received full approval.

Clinical trials involving experimental treatments and vaccines are under way. Meanwhile, treatment capacity has expanded to more than 800 beds, laboratory capacity has increased from one facility to 16 and thousands of community health workers are being trained.

Despite those measures, health authorities warn that the outbreak continues to spread faster than the response can contain it.