The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the "fastest growing" in history, African health authorities said Thursday, as the World Health Organization reported that the death toll had climbed to 600.
Updated figures from the U.N. health agency showed 1,759 confirmed Ebola cases since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, including 600 confirmed deaths.
"This is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak ever, not only among previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, but across all Ebola virus strains," Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness and response at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters.
Mankoula said the current outbreak has spread at an unprecedented pace, surpassing even the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record in West Africa between 2013 and 2016.
That outbreak recorded 994 cases during its first six weeks, compared with 1,596 cases over the same period in the current outbreak.
"Unfortunately, the virus is still ahead of our response. It's moving faster than we are deploying the resources needed to control the situation," Mankoula said, adding that the number of cases was estimated to be doubling every 28 days.
He said $1.4 billion was needed for the overall disease response and humanitarian effort.
"We need to surge our response, and surging our response means financial resources, human resources," Mankoula said. "We are urging all partners and donors to fast-track the disbursement of those resources."
Ebola spreads through close contact and infected bodily fluids. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola species for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. Health officials believe it circulated for some time before it was detected.
WHO figures, based on data from health authorities in the DRC, show the outbreak has a case fatality rate of 34%.
A total of 285 patients in the DRC have recovered, while 304 suspected cases of the viral hemorrhagic fever remain under investigation.
The outbreak in northeastern DRC has affected four provinces but is concentrated in Ituri province.
A clinical trial of two potential treatments for the Bundibugyo virus began in the DRC on July 2. Researchers are evaluating the effectiveness of the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir, both individually and in combination.
The DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak was declared May 15 after several deaths in Ituri, a mineral-rich province plagued by armed groups.
"Population movements, persistent insecurity and the fragility of the health system continue to complicate efforts to bring the outbreak under control," Anne Ancia, the WHO's representative in the DRC, said Tuesday.
She said there are now about 700 beds across 22 treatment centers, with another 300 beds in the pipeline. The existing centers are operating at about 90% capacity.
More than 10,000 contacts of infected people are being monitored, with an 82% follow-up rate. WHO says a rate of 95% is needed to bring the outbreak under control.
Laboratory capacity has increased from 30 tests a day in the capital, Kinshasa, to more than 2,000 tests a day in decentralized laboratories across the affected provinces.
One of the affected provinces is South Kivu, where fighting has continued between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group.
"Before Ebola struck, millions were already facing conflict, hunger, displacement, weak basic services and limited health care," Tom Fletcher, head of the U.N.'s humanitarian operations, said in a statement.
"The DRC is one of the world's most complex humanitarian crises. Recent cuts in humanitarian funding have made the response even harder," he said.
