UN Relief Chief Calls for Urgent Action as DRC Faces Unprecedented Ebola Outbreak and Funding Shortfall

Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing its fastest-growing Ebola outbreak, with authorities reporting 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths as of a recent update, including more than 5,000 cases in Ituri Province. This contrasts with 635 cases and 399 deaths recorded by WHO in the first 100 days of the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic. The current DRC outbreak saw 5,515 cases and 2,642 deaths within its first 100 days since being declared on 15 May.

Tom Fletcher, the UN relief chief, said that although the response has expanded, Ebola is spreading faster than current containment efforts can manage. He stressed the urgent need to escalate the response to prevent further loss of life and growing threat.

The UN highlighted Uganda's success in containing its latest Ebola outbreak, which ended recently. According to WHO Africa and Fletcher, Uganda achieved control through rapid case detection, contact tracing, isolation, clinical care, infection prevention, community engagement, and strengthened surveillance.

The UN migration agency, IOM, has conducted about 23 million health screenings in the DRC and neighboring countries to help monitor movement, identify cases, and reduce cross-border transmission risks, according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Fletcher has allocated over $57 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund for Ebola response and preparedness in the region. However, the outbreak coincides with a severe humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC, where violence involving government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels is displacing communities and limiting humanitarian access.

The UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO has responded to clashes involving government forces, Ugandan soldiers, and suspected Allied Democratic Forces members—an Islamic State-affiliated group in eastern DRC, the outbreak’s epicenter. MONUSCO is running programs to help tens of thousands access farmland and schools safely, while supporting protection and conditions for displaced families to return.