Assuming the Ebola disease outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is under control would be a mistake

The race to contain the Ebola disease outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is far from over, warns Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). While some indicators, such as declining patient admissions and slower transmission, may suggest the outbreak is easing, MSF teams are observing a worrying trend: cases are emerging and spreading into new, underprepared areas while basic response measures are still not in place in the original hotspots, making containment efforts increasingly challenging. “Assuming the outbreak is under control because some Ebola treatment centres are admitting fewer patients would be a mistake,” says Anthony Kergosien, MSF emergency coordinator in DRC. “In Ituri [province], the original epicentre, the spread is indeed slowing down for now. But nationally, the number of new cases has not fallen.” “The outbreak is not shrinking, it is moving: South Ubangi has become the seventh affected province, while North Kivu now accounts for nearly half of all newly confirmed cases, with test positivity rising sharply in recent days,” says Kergosien. “While undetected chains of transmission are already taking hold in the main operational hubs, the spread of the outbreak in