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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be far more widespread than official figures suggest, citing significant surveillance “blind spots” in high-risk areas and shortages of facilities to isolate infected patients.
Speaking on Friday as reported by Reuters, WHO epidemiologist Olivier le Polain said gaps in disease monitoring were hampering efforts to fully understand the scale of the outbreak, raising fears that many cases may be going undetected.
“There are still many blind spots in some areas that are high risk,” he said, stressing the need to strengthen surveillance to prevent further spread of the disease.
The warning comes after Congolese authorities announced that the outbreak had spread to three additional health zones.
Read more: Zambia steps up Ebola preparedness as DRC, Uganda cases rise
The country has so far recorded 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths, with infections also reported in neighbouring Uganda.
Health officials are also grappling with a shortage of isolation facilities, with only about 250 beds available across the three affected provinces, making it more difficult to contain transmission.
The current outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine.
Experts say the disease circulated undetected for several weeks before it was identified, forcing emergency teams into a race to contain its spread.
While the WHO has not yet projected the potential size of the epidemic, concerns remain high after the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested the outbreak could rival the devastating 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic, which claimed more than 11,000 lives.
Health authorities continue to intensify surveillance and response efforts amid fears that the true extent of the outbreak may still be unknown.
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