Summary

From the very beginning, there was cause for concern over the current Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The northeast of the country suffers from poor road and health service infrastructure and intermittent rebel attacks, making a coordinated international effort to fight the disease all the more difficult. To make matters worse, the DRC is now in the grips of a political crisis over the disputed results of its long-anticipated presidential election, held on December 30.

Going by the WHO’s latest report, these early fears are now being realized. At 680 cases, the DRC Ebola outbreak is the second-largest in history, and more case spikes can be expected in the near future as the disease creeps toward major urban centers. It would seem that the first border-jumping case from this outbreak is now only a matter of time.