Ebola Outpaces Contact Tracing in Eastern DRC

In eastern Congo, Ebola is advancing more swiftly than responders can manage, with health workers managing to follow up with only about one in five identified contacts on a single day. According to the government, on Thursday, DRC health officials tracked approximately 21 percent of the cases under observation. As of May 21, there were 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases, and 1,603 identified contacts. However, only 342 contacts were followed up that day, representing about 21 percent of those being monitored, as reported by the ministry on Friday. The situation indicates that the response is lagging behind the outbreak, despite increased emergency efforts following the World Health Organization's declaration of a public health emergency on May 17. The outbreak has now reached three provinces, including South Kivu, where a case was confirmed near Bukavu this week, close to the Rwandan border.