Ebola Reaches New Congo Area as Contact Tracing Breaks Down

Key points

• (Bloomberg) -- Ebola has reached a health zone more than 100 miles from the mining town where Democratic Republic of Congo’s outbreak is believed to have begun, as responders track fewer than 40% of known contacts in the epidemic’s hardest-hit province.
• Health officials in Ituri province, which accounts for almost 94% of confirmed infections, were actively monitoring only 39.3% of identified contacts, the country’s Institute of Public Health said in a report Tuesday.
• The newly affected health zone of Mambasa lies southwest of the town of Mongbwalu, considered the outbreak’s point of origin, bringing the total number of affected health zones nationwide to 24. The outbreak — caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus — has become one of the most complex Ebola epidemics in recent years, spreading through a conflict-affected region where insecurity, population movements and distrust of authorities are undermining efforts to identify contacts and isolate cases.