Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director‑General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on the 12th that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is spreading at an unprecedented rate and risks becoming the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded globally.

“This is already the second‑largest Ebola outbreak on record, spreading faster than any previous one,” Tedros stated at a regular press briefing in Geneva the same day. “At the current pace of development, its scale could surpass the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014‑2016.”

Tedros noted that a cumulative total of 4,449 confirmed Ebola cases and 2,061 deaths have been reported in the DRC, and response efforts have been playing catch‑up. Most concerning is the high proportion of deaths occurring in communities — neither inside treatment centres nor listed among close contacts. This points to undetected transmission chains. The outbreak can only be contained once all chains of transmission are identified and broken.

WHO official Abdirahman Mahamud said the outbreak has not yet peaked. A turning point could be reached within three months if control measures including enhanced surveillance, improved care and safe burials are rolled out simultaneously across all affected areas.

According to data on the WHO website, the 2014‑2016 West African Ebola outbreak was the largest since the Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, with more than 28,600 cumulative reported cases and around 11,300 deaths.

Source: Shanghai Securities News