The World Health Organization has warned that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be spreading more rapidly than earlier estimated, with indications that the virus has crossed borders and reached additional provinces.
Anne Ancia, a representative of the WHO, said ongoing investigations were uncovering broader transmission patterns than initially anticipated.
“The more we investigate this outbreak, the more we realise that it has already spread, at least to some extent, across borders and into other provinces,” the BBC quoted Ancia as saying.
She described Ituri Province — the epicentre of the outbreak — as a highly insecure region with significant population movement, a situation that has complicated efforts to trace infections and contain the disease.
According to her, the outbreak has also extended to South Kivu Province, a region already facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis.
The outbreak has so far claimed at least 131 lives, sparking international concern after reports confirmed cross-border transmission into neighbouring Uganda, where one death has already been recorded.
Health officials disclosed that more than 513 Ebola cases were suspected in Congo as of Tuesday.
The WHO recently declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern due to the increasing spread of the virus and the heightened risk of cross-border transmission.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the agency said the declaration followed consultations with authorities in DR Congo and Uganda.
However, the organisation clarified that the outbreak had not yet reached the threshold required for classification as a pandemic emergency under the International Health Regulations.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic”.
Meanwhile, a modelling study released on Monday by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis suggested that the actual number of infections could be far higher than official figures indicate.
The study noted there had been “substantial” under-detection of cases and warned that infections may already have exceeded 1,000.
Researchers further stated that the outbreak was “larger than currently ascertained” and that its “true magnitude remains uncertain”.
There is currently no approved vaccine for the strain of Ebola responsible for the latest outbreak, although the WHO said it is assessing whether existing drugs could provide some level of protection.
