Ebola has infected more than 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an outbreak that has spread to a third displacement camp and killed an 18-month-old girl.
Congo’s government confirmed the death toll has reached 254.
The rapid spread across three provinces in eastern Congo has prompted warnings from African health experts that the outbreak could eventually surpass the 2014–2016 West African epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people.
A Congolese health report stated that the 18-month-old baby tested positive for Ebola on June 14 in the Hungbe displacement camp and died before the result was confirmed the next day.
The report said the baby had developed a fever more than a week earlier and was carried on foot to two different health centres, where she was given antibiotics before finally being tested.
At least 107 people came into contact with her, including family members, healthcare workers, and people from other camps.
Dr Emmanuel Musingusi Bulemu, a Congolese health official in the surrounding Nizi zone, said there was a shortage of facilities to isolate patients.
“We need to separate these patients from the community because they risk infecting others, but where can we put them?” he added.
There have also been two confirmed cases in Kpangba, another displacement camp in the same area housing people who fled decades of conflict between armed groups, militias, and the army.
At least 30 people have died in a camp at another displacement site in Bunia.
According to preliminary data from the UN children’s agency UNICEF, nearly a fifth of confirmed cases so far have been children. A small number of cases have also been reported in neighbouring Uganda.
