World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo was spreading at an unprecedented speed, saying the response must accelerate to keep pace with the virus.

On Thursday, a suspected Ebola death was reported on a boat heading for Kinshasa, which has so far avoided the outbreak raging in DR Congo's east and northeast.

Speaking during a meeting with officials from the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Kinshasa, Tedros said he was "deeply, deeply concerned" as the outbreak continued to expand beyond its epicentre in Ituri province.

The outbreak has spread to five provinces since it was declared in May, with government figures showing 3,874 confirmed cases and 1,751 deaths.

WHO has previously warned the true scale of the epidemic could be two to four times larger than official figures because many infections continue to emerge outside known chains of transmission.

Tedros said the response must move beyond community engagement towards what he called "community ownership," warning that many deaths were still occurring before patients were identified by surveillance teams.

He also said unpaid health workers remained a major concern despite previous commitments to address the issue, calling for partners and the government to standardise payments to frontline responders.

The WHO chief said the outbreak could still be contained, but only if authorities move faster than the virus.

He urged responders to strengthen community surveillance, improve support for frontline health workers and accelerate measures to interrupt transmission, warning that the response was still playing catch-up as the epidemic continued to spread. (Reuters)



Edited by Altis Wong