The World Health Organization’s director-general said the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda is spreading faster than response efforts, with 220 suspected deaths reported so far.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said delays in detecting cases had forced health responders into “playing catch-up” as authorities struggled to contain the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
Speaking during an African Union meeting on Monday, Tedros said more than 900 suspected cases had been identified as surveillance operations expanded across affected regions.
The WHO chief said the outbreak was likely to worsen before improving and urged countries bordering Congo to take immediate preventive action.
The outbreak’s epicentre is in northeastern Congo’s Ituri province, but cases have spread into neighbouring provinces and crossed into Uganda.
Uganda on Monday confirmed two additional Ebola cases, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed infections to seven.
The Ugandan Ministry of Health said the two latest patients were health workers at a private medical facility in Kampala.
The WHO last week declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Health officials said the response has been complicated by insecurity in Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces, as well as the absence of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain.
Tedros is expected to travel to Congo on Tuesday alongside WHO emergencies official Chikwe Ihekweazu.
Violence and resistance against health measures have further complicated containment efforts in eastern Congo.
On Sunday evening, armed youths stormed Mongbwalu General Hospital, where Ebola patients were being treated, forcing medical staff to evacuate patients amid gunfire.
Hospital medical director Richard Lokudu said the attackers demanded the release of two relatives’ bodies.
A day earlier, residents set fire to a Doctors Without Borders facility in Mongbwalu, after which 18 suspected Ebola patients reportedly disappeared.
Another treatment centre in Rwampara was burned last week following protests over burial restrictions imposed by authorities to prevent further infections.
Congolese authorities have also banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people in northeastern regions affected by the outbreak.