Ebola outbreak spreads in DR Congo, responders seek more aid

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, which has claimed dozens of lives, is still expanding across the country’s remote regions, health officials reported on Tuesday. While recent vaccination campaigns and targeted isolation units have halted transmission in several districts, new clusters have emerged in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, pushing the total confirmed cases above 150 and fatalities past 70, according to the World Health Organization’s latest figures.

Aid agencies warned that the surge underscores an urgent need for additional international resources to sustain laboratory testing, personal‑protective equipment and community‑engagement teams that are critical to curbing the virus’s spread. Responders on the ground are seeking funding to expand contact‑tracing efforts, reinforce safe burial practices and support the rollout of the rVSV‑ZEBOV vaccine in high‑risk zones. Without renewed global assistance, officials said, the momentum gained in recent weeks could be lost, prolonging the public‑health emergency and jeopardizing the health of millions in the region.