UN urges funding as Ebola surge deepens hunger crisis

A severe Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is accelerating at an unprecedented rate and deepening a catastrophic hunger crisis, United Nations officials warned on July 29 and 30. They urgently called for a massive increase in funding and political attention to prevent the dual emergencies from spiraling further out of control.

The outbreak, declared on May 15, is now the third-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded and is spreading faster than any previous one. As of July 29, it has reached over 3,200 confirmed cases across 48 health zones in five provinces, with 1,487 deaths reported. Officials noted that in recent days they have seen some of the highest single-day infection totals. The World Health Organization has warned that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times higher than reported figures, with roughly 80 percent of new cases emerging from unknown chains of transmission.

A critical and alarming factor driving transmission is that approximately 60 percent of deaths are occurring in communities, not in healthcare facilities. This means people are dying at home when the viral load is highest, posing extreme risk to caregivers and...