Thousands of people have fled an Ebola-hit displacement camp in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), leaving it largely abandoned after clashes erupted during a security operation, the UN said on Thursday.
The Kigonze camp in Ituri Province had housed around 19,000 people. Residents began fleeing after security forces entered the site to search for weapons and suspected members of armed groups, with gunfire reported during the operation.
”The enormous challenge of halting the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo just became even harder,” the UN said.
An Ebola transit center at Kigonze was also destroyed by fire this week, further disrupting containment efforts. The facility, operated by International Medical Corps and supported by more than 50 staff, was used to isolate and assess suspected cases before patients were transferred for treatment.
Fighting has also hampered the Ebola response elsewhere in eastern DR Congo. More than 3,000 people have fled the Rhoe displacement camp in Ituri’s Djugu territory since clashes intensified on September 27, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA. At least four people were reportedly killed and seven injured.
The outbreak, declared a public health emergency in May, has spread to seven of the country’s 26 provinces, with Ituri remaining the epicenter.
As of September 29, Congolese authorities had recorded 8,224 confirmed cases and 3,982 deaths, putting the case fatality rate at 48.4%.
On Thursday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned against interpreting a recent decline in reported cases as evidence that the outbreak is easing, saying insecurity has disrupted surveillance in affected areas. Of the 63 health zones affected, 45 were still reporting active transmission.
”Falling in this curve doesn't mean that the outbreak is totally under control,” Africa CDC’s Dr. Wessam Mankoula said. “We cannot say at this stage the outbreak is under control.”
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola and has surpassed the toll of DR Congo’s 2018-2020 epidemic. There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the strain, although candidate vaccines and treatments are being studied, according to the World Health Organization.
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