The current Ebola outbreak centered in Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the third-largest Ebola outbreak in history. Health workers have seen some of the highest numbers of new cases in a single day, and the fastest growth ever of an Ebola outbreak in a single month, according to the United Nations. The virus has spread beyond its original outbreak area, and two new provinces, Haut-Uele and Tshopo, were officially added to the outbreak zone in just the last few days. The Congolese Ministry of Health reports at least 930 confirmed deaths, including dozens of front line health workers. Many of the newly reported deaths are of people who died in their communities without ever seeking treatment at a clinic. This leads many experts to fear that the outbreak is significantly bigger than suggested by the statistics.
The first step in containing any disease has traditionally been using contact tracing, but by mid-July, 80% of new infections come from unknown transmission chains. It has been exceedingly difficult to locate a source or even sources of the disease. With this in mind, the World Health Organization is battling the disease on two fronts—to continue the medical response in Ituri province which has 95% of all the 2,344 confirmed cases; but also follow the travel routes to understand better where new cases may be developing.
