The Ebola outbreak is spreading to new areas in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is larger than previously detected, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.
Much remains to be done to contain the virus, the WHO said, as isolation bed capacity is far below anticipated needs, given the way the virus is spreading.
Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, 676 cases of Ebola have been confirmed, including 136 deaths in the DRC, according to the latest WHO figures.
There are 119 other suspected cases, while 32 patients have recovered.
There is no approved vaccine or treatment for the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus responsible for the current outbreak, which is centered on Ituri province, with cases also detected in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
"The outbreak continues to spread, both in terms of the number of cases and geographical distribution," said Olivier Le Polain, head of epidemiology and response analysis at the WHO.
- Contact search -
Speaking from Beni, North Kivu, he said that cases were being identified almost daily in new health zones within the three affected provinces.
"This really reflects the scale of this epidemic: a scale much greater than what is being detected, and the high mobility of the population," he told reporters in Geneva.
Mr. Le Polain stated that while, in recent weeks, cases occurring in new areas could be attributed to travel from hotspots, today "we are also seeing spread within the local community in new areas".
"There are still many blind spots in certain high-risk areas," he added.
Mr. Le Polain stated that contact tracing remained below ideal levels, with just over 70% of contacts correctly located.
"This is a considerable improvement compared to the situation that prevailed a week or two ago, but it is still not enough to ensure proper control," he said.
"Surveillance can be strengthened, but if you don't have a space to safely place your patients, it becomes very difficult," he added.
He stated that "in relation to the evolution of the epidemiology", the current capacity of 250 isolation beds in the affected provinces would not be sufficient and would need to be increased "quite rapidly".
Expected impact on children
The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, has warned of a likely increase in the number of cases among children through domestic transmission in the coming weeks.
Returning from Bunia, the capital of Ituri, Douglas Noble, UNICEF's global lead for Ebola, said that in the province, more than half of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition.
"The fact is that these are already very vulnerable children," he told reporters.
"As the epidemic evolves, we must prepare for an increase in domestic transmission, which means we could see more children affected in the coming days," he said, based on previous Ebola crises.
"We expect it and we are taking measures in our interventions... to respond to it," he told reporters.
The epidemic has also spread across the border into Uganda, which has recorded 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths.
The African Union's health agency said on Thursday that the situation in Uganda was "under control".
The WHO classifies the risk of Ebola as very high in the DRC, high in Uganda, high in countries sharing land borders with the DRC and Uganda, and low elsewhere.
