Bunia: As the deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo's history continued spreading on Friday, UN responders renewed their urgent appeal for immediate international support, with existing funding for lifesaving work critically low. According to United Nations, since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, 5,290 people have been infected, and 2,516 have died, according to the latest health authority data published on Friday. Of the total confirmed number of cases, 1,152 people have recovered, and nearly 840 people remain in isolation or hospitalized. The fatality rate is 47.6 percent, and contact follow-up is 82.9 percent. Briefing journalists from the Ebola epicenter in Bunia, Ituri province, UN Senior Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis warned that the disease is growing exponentially, with half of all deaths occurring in just the last 20 days. The epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France, and the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response, he stressed, as brutal operating cond itions continue to impede the progress of frontline workers. Three months into the outbreak, 160 healthcare workers have contracted Ebola, and 43 of them have died. Apart from the threat from the virus, healthcare workers and frontline workers have been attacked by youths, ambulances have been burned and stoned, and healthcare facilities have been attacked, Mr. Harneis explained. Despite these challenges, multiple specialist UN agencies continue to work alongside the DRC authorities to push back Ebola. Another key obstacle to the response is the lack of basic social services in the six eastern provinces where the virus is spreading (Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé, Tshopo, and Bas-Uélé), a direct result of decades of violence in the resource-rich area. Gaps in government-run, coordinated healthcare services and a limited number of banks have created further problems. In this area, the banking system barely functions, Mr. Harneis explained. Although the United States has contributed $80 million to the DRC Government to boost bed capacity and safe burial practices, among other support, cuts to aid work-especially in the last two years-have reduced the capacity of humanitarian organizations by more than 30 percent, he added. Despite the difficult conditions, Mr. Harneis emphasized that efforts to deploy humanitarian and medical assistance will continue until the outbreak is contained.
