Medical workers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are operating under extremely difficult conditions as they battle to control what has become the country’s largest recorded Ebola outbreak.
Congolese authorities say more than 7,000 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, with the death toll exceeding 3,000.
There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak.
“It is not easy, you know to work in my country, to see the community affected by an outbreak like Ebola without specific treatment and to work in this environment with violence, difficult for patients to access healthcare,” says Fabrice Ngoyi Nsakalumpu, a Medical Activity Manager with Médecins Sans Frontières. “So we are managing even though it is not easy, but we make the best.”
Health workers are also contending with the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC, which limits access to remote communities and makes it harder to trace people who may have been exposed to the virus. In some areas, medical teams have faced resistance from communities, particularly relatives of victims seeking access to the bodies of their loved ones despite the risk of further transmission.
The outbreak has so far reached seven provinces across the country. However, authorities say there are indications that the situation could be stabilising, with the rate of new infections appearing to decline.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Uganda, which recorded 20 cases and two deaths linked to infections imported from the DRC, has officially been declared free of Ebola.
