– In an Ebola outbreak, hours matter. Yet the response to the deadly and fast-spreading epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is weeks if not months behind – and missing thousands of people who may be at risk.Interviews with global health officials and documents ​from a meeting led by the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention show how behind the curve authorities are in fighting the latest outbreak.Caused by a ‌strain of the virus known as Bundibugyo for which there is no vaccine or treatment, the outbreak has already caused a suspected 220 deaths and 900 cases, according to the WHO. It has spread to Uganda, where there are seven cases.

Health teams are racing to find thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus while also grappling with myriad challenges that make it difficult to contain.Problems at a local level include lack of basic supplies as well as mistrust from a community scarred by previous outbreaks. ​Globally, the response is hampered by the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO and wider funding cuts, many health sources said.Documents from Friday’s virtual coordination meeting show that, as of last week, only ​7% of the 1,261 people identified as contacts of suspected Ebola patients had been found and followed up. The WHO put the number at more than 2,000 on ⁠Wednesday.

The outbreak is “outpacing the response”, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on Wednesday.”Attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible.”In eastern Congo, the worst-hit area, hospitals have been attacked and isolation tents ​burned by angry mobs reclaiming bodies of loved ones, apparently unaware of risks from infectious corpses.That is hindering the operation to stop the spread of the virus and track those at risk in an area already wracked with conflict ​and with poor health infrastructure, three experts said.

In a document summary of the meeting on Friday, the partners agreed that reaching more contacts is now the key priority as funding and emergency response personnel trickle in.”Bottom line: No vaccine exists. No therapy exists. The virus circulated undetected for six weeks. Cross-border spread is confirmed. Healthcare workers are dying. Every day without a fully resourced response is a day the outbreak gains ground,” a presentation by the WHO Africa team from the meeting reads.

While Congolese officials are well-versed in fighting Ebola – this is the 17th outbreak since 1976 – shortages remain a problem, including of the right tests to detect Bundibugyo rather than other Ebola viruses.This was also a factor delaying initial detection.

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