Congo Ebola outbreak still out of control after six months, MSF says

Six months into Congo's Ebola outbreak, many cases are likely being missed, transmission in hospitals ​in some areas is rife and the virus is still spreading out of control, Reuters reported, citing Médecins Sans Frontières.

With the number of confirmed cases now surpassing 11,000, the outbreak — declared in mid-May and caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there are no approved treatments or vaccines — is the second-worst on record.

Help, however, is not reaching those who need it most, the medical charity said, pointing to untrained and unpaid ​staff, ambulances without fuel and a lack of surveillance teams and supplies to safely manage suspected cases.

"Despite the vast amounts of ​money provided for the response, many frontline responders are left trying to contain the outbreak with empty hands and ⁠empty pockets," Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, MSF's international president, said on Thursday.

"Our teams are often left speechless by the dysfunctions they witness in many areas. ​Six months into the response, this situation is simply unacceptable," he said.

MSF called on the Congolese government and UN agencies, which include the World ​Health Organization, to ensure the resources that have been mobilized translate into support on the ground.

At a separate briefing on Wednesday, British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who has been working to model the outbreak in real time, said ​case detection remained a major challenge.

For that reason, he said it was likely transmission would still be ongoing a year from now and ​the outbreak could outstrip the 2014-2016 West African outbreak — the biggest ever — which saw more than 28,600 cases and killed more than 11,000 people.

His team estimated there are currently between 2,000 and 3,000 Ebola patients in Congo.