World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on September 3 that all chains of Ebola transmission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must be identified and broken to contain the outbreak.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Tedros stressed that until every transmission chain is broken, the disease will continue to threaten the DRC, its neighbors, and the entire region.
According to official government figures, the Ebola death toll in the DRC has exceeded 3,000. This is considered the fastest-spreading outbreak in history and the most severe and largest the country has ever experienced.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that prevention efforts are still falling short of targets, with the majority of new cases—up to 80%—occurring outside the list of known contacts.
Response efforts have been hampered by conflict in mineral-rich areas, poor infrastructure, strikes by unpaid health workers, and cultural practices such as traditional burials that contribute to virus spread.
Tedros said it remains unclear how many people were exposed to the virus before dying, meaning there are still undetected transmission chains.
The response is also severely underfunded, with a funding gap of more than $1 billion. Tedros called on the international community to continue supporting the effort, emphasizing that experience from previous outbreaks shows the disease can be controlled with commitment.
Amid the complex outbreak, a DRC official said schools in the hardest-hit areas reopened this week instead of switching to distance learning as previously planned. According to the unnamed official, the distance-learning option was rejected over concerns it would severely disrupt students' education.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which no vaccine or treatment has yet been approved. Vaccine trials are underway, and if results are promising, vaccination rollout will begin immediately.
