Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for an urgent scale‑up of medical response to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as cases continue to surge, with more than 700 deaths reported so far.
In a statement on Thursday, MSF urged health authorities and humanitarian actors to swiftly increase resources across all aspects of the Ebola response, including community engagement, surveillance, testing and diagnosis, patient care, survivor support, and the safe and dignified management of bodies and burials, while ensuring that other urgent health needs are also addressed.
“Every delay costs lives. We are still chasing the outbreak instead of staying ahead of it. More people become infected, more families lose loved ones, and the epidemic becomes harder to contain. We need stronger, more coordinated international action to move faster and improve access to both Ebola care and other essential health services,” said Trish Newport, the MSF Emergency Program Manager.
While the situation in Uganda remains stable, the disease continues to expand in eastern DRC, with health authorities reporting that Ituri province remains the epicentre, accounting for 91.1 per cent of confirmed cases and 84.3 per cent of deaths in the DRC, while North Kivu province reports the highest provincial CFR at 56.8 per cent.
MSF notes that in just two months, the current Ebola disease outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, has become the third largest Ebola outbreak and the fastest growing on record. In less than five weeks, the number of confirmed cases has tripled, from 650 to more than 2,000 as of July 12, while the number of deaths has increased more than fivefold, from 130 to over 700.
“The epidemic has already exceeded half the number of cases recorded during DRC’s 2018‑2020 Ebola outbreak, which lasted almost two years. The situation is particularly alarming, as the outbreak continues to expand geographically. Limited access to medical care, an overstretched surveillance system, and increasing pressure on treatment centres mean that entire communities outside of major urban areas remain without adequate support,” the organisation cautioned.
According to Sylvie Kaczmarczyk, the MSF Emergency Coordinator in Bunia, the 90‑bed Elikiya Ebola Treatment Centre is almost always operating at full capacity.
“People regularly tell us they prefer to wait at home and come only when a bed becomes available. As a result, we continue to receive patients who arrive late and are already critically ill. It is devastating to know that many of these deaths could have been prevented through earlier diagnosis and timely access to care and treatment,” she said.
While other medical organisations are working alongside the Ministry of Health in eastern DRC, significant gaps remain.
“DRC’s surveillance system is designed to detect cases early through strong community networks and the local health system. However, the current Ebola disease outbreak, combined with multiple other disease threats, has pushed the system to its limits,” said MSF.
“The key to slowing and ultimately stopping the spread of the epidemic is to bring the response closer to communities while boosting the medical response and surveillance system, so that cases can be identified and isolated as early as possible. Efforts to expand testing, contact tracing and community engagement must also continue,” the organisation added.
MSF further notes that movement restrictions, including border closures, self‑monitoring requirements, and measures affecting humanitarian personnel applied by authorities in DRC and other countries, are creating additional challenges for the deployment and rotation of specialised Ebola staff.
At the same time, the outbreak is unfolding in a context of armed conflict, displacement and multiple concurrent health emergencies.
“Insecurity continues to restrict access to some communities, while MSF teams are simultaneously responding to other urgent medical needs, including cholera and malaria. The approaching rainy season is also expected to drive a surge in malaria cases, placing further strain on an already overstretched health system,” the statement said.
MSF says it is therefore crucial to accelerate efforts to improve access to Ebola care while ensuring the provision of other basic humanitarian assistance, including healthcare, water and sanitation.
“We cannot continue responding to the epidemic with the same limited resources while it continues to outpace us. Only a robust, adequately resourced medical response that truly reflects the scale of needs on the ground can prevent this outbreak from becoming a crisis beyond our ability to contain. To achieve that, expanded international support is urgently needed,” said Newport.
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