Nearly 300 Ebola Patients in Congo Missing, Raising Fears of Uncontrolled Spread

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Friday that 297 Ebola patients have gone missing during a deadly outbreak, raising concern they may be spreading the virus in the community without medical supervision. Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “This is our biggest concern, where are these people?”

Kaseya said the field picture points to extensive community transmission, with about 30% of new cases found in people not previously known to authorities as contacts. The main obstacle to containing the outbreak is the ongoing armed conflict, which has left more than 1 million displaced people in camps that medical teams cannot reach, blocking epidemiological investigations and contact tracing. “We cannot stop this outbreak without solving the humanitarian issue,” he said.

So far, Congo has recorded 1,118 confirmed cases and 291 deaths. Nearby Uganda has also reported 20 infections and two deaths. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, and after five weeks it is already the largest ever recorded. Treatment centers are operating at 95% capacity, and Kaseya warned that the country has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak.

The World Health Organization expects about 8,210 infections and 1,420 deaths by mid-September, and says a high-transmission scenario could push the number of cases to 66,000 by September. It also sees a 70% chance the virus will spread to South Sudan in the coming weeks. The virus has already reached Europe, after a French doctor who worked in Congo tested positive upon returning home.