The United Nations (UN) said health partners will open the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s largest Ebola treatment centre this week as Ebola cases continue to climb.

As of July 30, reports indicate a total of 3,605 confirmed cases, including 1,587 deaths, since the outbreak was first declared in mid-May, according to the latest updates from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The DRC confirmed that Ebola cases continued to rise sharply over the weekend in the country’s largest-ever outbreak of the highly contagious disease.

“This week, health partners will also inaugurate the biggest treatment centre of the country, with a 100-bed capacity.

“The facility will make it easier to identify suspected cases more quickly and refer confirmed Ebola patients to treatment centres,” a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

“Ebola is moving fast, hitting people already facing conflict and hunger,” Carl Skau, acting chief of the World Food Programme (WFP), said following a weekend visit to eastern DRC.

“Communities are key to ending it but need support.”

WHO said the current outbreak is now the largest recorded Ebola virus disease outbreak in the country, surpassing the 2018 to 2020 outbreak, which resulted in 3,317 confirmed cases.

During the most recent complete reporting week, the highest weekly number of reported cases (567) and deaths (296) to date was recorded, underscoring the exceptional pace of transmission.

The hardest-hit areas are in a “red zone”, where lifesaving work is underway.

When the outbreak was announced in 2025, UN agencies partnered with Congolese health authorities to open an innovative Ebola treatment centre in December that could accommodate 25 patients.

Since then, tonnes of supplies have been shipped, and the number of treatment beds has expanded across affected areas, including Nizi, a priority area for the Ebola response.

Nizi hosts more than 80,000 internally displaced people across 22 sites and faces high population movement linked to mining activities.

Meanwhile, UN agencies and partners, including the United States and the International Medical Corps (IMC), have helped set up an Ebola transit centre at the Kigonze displacement camp on the outskirts of Bunia, the capital of Ituri.

However, a substantial scaling-up of response activities is needed to get ahead of the outbreak, which has seen an increasing number of cases, expanding geographic spread and high mortality, WHO warned.

“The convergence of insecurity, population displacement and mobility, and cross-border movements complicates response operations and increases the risk of further geographical spread,” the UN agency said.

It noted that around 270,000 people who have fled violence now live in displacement sites across Ituri Province, where conditions are ideal for the disease to spread.

Over the last two months, the outbreak has expanded to five additional provinces and is now affecting 49 health zones.

The outbreak remains active in 33 of them, with confirmed cases still being reported.

Ituri remains the most impacted province, accounting for 88 per cent of all confirmed cases and 82.6 per cent of reported deaths nationwide. 

(NAN)