The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned Tuesday that the rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in Congo risked becoming one of the “deadliest on record” unless global health officials moved quickly to contain it. The NGO said Congo and Uganda had already logged more than 900 suspected cases and at least 223 deaths as aid funding dried up. “The warning signs are flashing red,” Bob Kitchen, the IRC’s vice president of emergencies, said in a statement. Kitchen said eastern Congo was more fragile and less prepared than during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak that killed more than 2,000 people. “Increased conflict and cuts to global aid funding have dismantled defenses at exactly the wrong moment. The lesson from every previous outbreak is clear: delays cost lives,” he added. The IRC urged the United Nations and the World Health Organization to appoint a U.N. coordinator to oversee the regional response, increase funding, relax restrictions on importing PPE, and called for more support for women and girls, who account for two-thirds of suspected cases.
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