Ebola transmission is declining in some of the worst-hit areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, although the outbreak continues to expand overall, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were “encouraging signs” that health authorities were beginning to gain ground against the epidemic.
Transmission has fallen in the most affected parts of Ituri, while South Kivu has recorded no new cases since May, Tedros told reporters in Geneva.
More than 1,700 people have recovered from the disease, he added.
The outbreak, now in its fourth month, has remained largely concentrated in northeastern DR Congo. A small outbreak detected in neighbouring Uganda was quickly brought under control, according to the WHO.
Despite the progress, Tedros warned that the epidemic remains severe, with more than 7,200 cases and over 3,500 deaths reported across seven provinces.
Ituri remains the centre of the outbreak, recording around 300 new infections and 160 deaths over the past week — nearly half of the national total.
Cases are also increasing sharply in North Kivu, where weekly infections have nearly doubled over the past two weeks, rising from around 100 to more than 200.
Tedros said key indicators were still not improving quickly enough and warned that the response would need to remain strong for months.
“The response will need to be sustained and strengthened over many demanding months,” he said.
