WHO chief warns DR Congo Ebola outbreak ‘far from being under control’

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is moving faster than any previous epidemic of the disease and risks spreading to more countries, the head of the World Health Organization has warned.

“We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an emergency meeting on the outbreak on Tuesday.

“It had a big head start, and we are still playing catch-up.”

His comment came after the DR Congo on Monday said the outbreak had killed more than 2,300 people out of nearly 5,000 cases, making it the deadliest in the country’s history.

Declared on May 15, the DR Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak is thought to have already been spreading for several weeks by that point.

It has hit regions in the north and east where the presence of the state is weak, health infrastructure is largely lacking and myriad armed groups have roamed for decades.