Ebola cases surge in Congo's North Kivu as treatment centres run full

Ebola cases are rising sharply in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo province of North Kivu, even as the outbreak shows signs of easing in neighbouring Ituri, health officials say.

Ituri, which has been the epicentre of the outbreak, recorded a 26% fall in cases this month. Over the same period, North Kivu saw a 73% increase, according to figures cited by response teams.

"Almost all our treatment centres are completely full," said Guy Mutombo, operations officer for North Kivu's Ebola response, speaking in Beni during a meeting of provincial authorities and health organisations. He said the proposal under discussion was for every health zone to have an isolation centre or Ebola treatment unit so that all incoming cases can be cared for.

North Kivu was the site of the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak, which killed thousands. The province's cases are now spread across both major cities such as Beni and rural villages.

In the rural locality of Mabalako, the general hospital serves as the only point of treatment for Ebola patients in the community it covers. The facility has no dedicated Ebola treatment centre, and the World Health Organization visited it last week to help strengthen its response capacity.

David Mbula Mukandirwa, the hospital's head doctor, said 25 cases had been tested through research conducted within local institutions. He added that the hospital was considering how to reinforce its surveillance team in order to track down all cases.

Response teams are also contending with resistance from communities. Mutombo warned that while such resistance remains high, more cases are being managed within communities and are often detected only after patients have died.

"If we want to move forward and bring the epidemic under control, the community must support our efforts," he said.