The terrifying Ebola outbreak in central Africa is expected to grow and claim more lives, the head of the World Health Organization warned Monday — as new cases quickly outpace first responders’ attempts to contain it.

A delay in detecting the deadly outbreak means medical personnel “are now playing catch-up with the fast-moving epidemic” that is plauging the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a meeting with the African Union. 

“It will likely get worse before it gets better,” Tedros said.

The outbreak is driven by a rare strain, the Bundibugyo virus, and it is afflicting one of the poorest parts of the entire world. Nearly three-quarters of the population of the DRC, home to some 125 million people, lives on about $2 per day.

As of Monday, there were 101 confirmed Bundibugyo cases the CRC – including 10 deaths from the virus – as well as another 900 suspected cases that resulted in 220 deaths.

In Uganda, the total number of confirmed cases rose to seven – including one death – after two healthcare workers tested positive for the virus, Tedros said. 

Other countries bordering the Congo were at high risk of contracting the virus and should take immediate action to stop the spread, the director-general alarmingly advised other African health leaders. 

Those in attendance at the meeting included Jean Kaseya, the director general of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. 

Curbing the spread is also complicated by growing violence between armed rebel groups in eastern Congo, specifically in Ituri and North Kivu, as well as “significant distrust of outside authorities among some local communities,” Tedros said. 

Recently, two Ebola treatment centers in those areas were subjected to arson attacks – but even before that, the rising violence among the groups had caused doctors and nurses to flee, leaving the remaining health facilities in desperate and “catastrophic” conditions, according to a Doctors Without Borders report. 

The conflict has also displaced nearly 1 million residents, which means the Ebola outbreak is “unfolding in communities already facing insecurity, displacement and fragile healthcare systems,” Gabriela Arenas, the International Federation of Red Cross’ regional operations coordinator, told the outlet. 

As a result, “a devastating set of emergencies are converging” in those areas, the Physicians for Human Rights nonprofit reportedly said.  

A third challenging factor of containing the outbreak, Tedros said, is that there are no approved vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus. 

The director-general said he would travel to Congo — the epicenter of the outbreak — with another senior WHO official responsible for addressing health emergencies, Chikwe Ihekweazu, on Tuesday. 

The WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield previously warned that it could potentially become “a very significant pandemic.”

“Normally we recognize them when we have five, ten cases, you know, at most,” said Redfield, who spearheaded the CDC during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This one really wasn’t picked up until there was over 100 cases…and it’s moving very rapidly.”

The outbreak is “probably going to leak into Tanzania, leak into Southern Sudan, maybe leak into Rwanda,” he added. 

The CDC previously said the risk to Americans remains low but precautions are still being taken. 

With Post Wires.