Ebola in DRC needs 5,000 more health workers, WHO says

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it needs 5,000 more health workers to respond to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to six provinces in the country's east and northeast.

The WHO said the outbreak, officially detected in mid-May, has killed 3,175 people among more than 6,600 confirmed infections since May 15, citing official Congolese figures.

Health services are short of staff and resources as cases rise. Luca Fontana, a senior technical official at the UN health agency, said the WHO hopes to create 3,000 beds in Ebola treatment centres in the DRC.

Fontana said more than 900 beds were built in the first two months of the response and that nearly 1,400 beds are now available across 59 treatment centres. He said another 1,600 beds are needed, and that staffing them would require 5,000 additional health workers on top of nearly 4,000 already working inside treatment centres.

The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. Several treatments and vaccines are being tested.

Fontana said patients were now arriving from villages “far beyond” the initial epicentre around Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, which he described as a sign that the outbreak is spreading and that the response must adapt.