WHO's Tedros says Ebola response must be scaled up to tackle Congo outbreak
The WHO is calling for increased funding to combat a major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has claimed over 3,000 lives. Officials warn that undetected transmission chains and unsafe burial practices are hindering containment efforts.
Why it matters
The outbreak represents a significant public health crisis that threatens regional stability and requires urgent international financial support.
The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday said the Ebola response needs to be scaled up to tackle the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with tracking the chains of transmission still posing a challenge.
"Until every chain is found and broken, the epidemic will continue and will continue to pose a threat to DRC, its neighbours and the region as a whole," the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters in Geneva.
The number of deaths in Congo's Ebola outbreak has surpassed 3,000, government data showed on Wednesday, as the country's worst epidemic continues to spread across its northeast.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, became the largest and deadliest in Congo's history after surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic.
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