Here are five things to know:
1. The Congolese Health Ministry on Oct. 10 confirmed 194 Ebola cases in eastern Congo, marking a 33-case increase since Oct. 1.
2. The rate of new Ebola cases has doubled since September, when officials confirmed 41 cases for the entire month, according to the International Rescue Committee.
“The current spike in Ebola cases and deaths is extremely worrying … It’s likely that the forced suspension in programming due to insecurity and community resistance in and around Beni are major factors in this,” Dr. Michelle Gayer, the IRC’s senior director of emergency health, said in a press release. “This is a sign not only that the outbreak is not under control, but that without full engagement from the community things could get a lot worse.”
3. The WHO on Oct. 9 reported 19 health workers have contracted Ebola virus outside of the hospitals and clinics where they work, which may be a sign the virus is spreading around the community.
4. IRC teams were forced to suspend Ebola response efforts between Sept. 25-29 and again on Oct. 10 due to violence in the city of Beni, where most of the new cases and deaths are occurring.
5. The Congo’s health ministry has confirmed 120 deaths linked to the outbreak as of Oct. 9. Health workers have vaccinated more than 15,000 people since Aug. 1.
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