GOMA, DR CONGO — Children across the Democratic Republic of the Congo returned to school on Tuesday as the country battles its largest recorded Ebola outbreak, prompting concern among parents and teachers in the worst-affected province of Ituri, Al Jazeera reported.

Government figures cited by Al Jazeera showed 6,041 confirmed cases and 2,911 deaths as of 31 August, surpassing the previous worst outbreak, which ran from 2018 to 2020. Six of the country's 26 provinces are affected. Ituri, in the north-east, remains the epicentre, with 4,802 confirmed cases recorded as of 26 August.

Doubts in Bunia

In Bunia, Ituri's provincial capital, parents have questioned whether schools should reopen while the outbreak continues to spread.

"As a parent, I am concerned about the announcement that schools are reopening, especially as we are facing the Ebola outbreak in our region," said Dieudonne Lotsima, a father of three. "We are asking the government what measures they will put in place to protect children from this disease."

Lotsima told Al Jazeera that classes should be postponed until a vaccine effective against the virus behind the outbreak becomes available. "Children are children," he said. "They may not wash their hands at the washbasins, and if they become infected, they risk infecting the whole family."

No approved vaccine for this strain

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of ebolavirus distinct from the Zaire ebolavirus responsible for most previous outbreaks in the country. There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment specifically for Bundibugyo virus disease.

Ervebo, the vaccine approved against Zaire ebolavirus, is being given to front-line health workers, but its effectiveness against Bundibugyo has not been established. The World Health Organization is supporting a clinical trial to assess whether it offers protection against the strain driving the current outbreak.

A tiered reopening

Rather than impose a nationwide closure, the government is applying different arrangements according to the level of risk, with pupils in the highest-risk areas studying at home using printed materials and radio lessons, Al Jazeera reported.

Education officials say training is being pushed down to school level. "We have trained inspectors, senior officials from the provincial directorate, and other members of teachers' unions," said Jean-Baptiste Ngona Kivi, acting head of the General Education Service in the Ituri 1 educational province. "They will be deployed to the sub-districts to pass on this training on Ebola protection techniques to headteachers and teachers."

Professor Yap Boum, incident manager at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for the Bundibugyo response, said the return to school could help reach families with information. "Once they have been made aware of the Ebola virus disease, when they return home, they also help to raise awareness amongst adults," he told Al Jazeera.

Reporting attributed to Al Jazeera. Case and death figures are official government totals as reported and are subject to revision.