Democratic Republic of Congo’s ebola epidemic: is the true scale underestimated?

The World Health Organization has issued a dire warning, indicating that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo may be far more extensive than official figures suggest. Two months following the initial declaration of the epidemic, data released on July 15 reported over 2,000 cases and 796 deaths. However, the global health body estimates that the actual number of people infected could be two to four times higher. This significant discrepancy prompts crucial questions: What factors contribute to this vast difference in numbers? Why has containing this particular epidemic proven so exceptionally difficult? And could the recent initiation of a post-exposure prophylaxis clinical trial in Bunia this week offer a turning point in the fight against the virus?