Health Workers Race to Contain Fast-Spreading Ebola Outbreak in Congo

Reuters

WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo and Uganda an International Public Health Emergency.

Medical teams were deployed to the frontlines on Monday in response to a new Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as concerns grow among health experts over its delayed detection and rapid spread.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Sunday, citing the high risk of further cross-border transmission after two cases were confirmed in Kampala, the capital of neighbouring Uganda.

Health authorities estimate that the outbreak has likely caused around 80 deaths in recent weeks. Laboratory testing has confirmed eight cases, while 246 suspected cases have been reported in Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A further case was confirmed in the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma, according to the M23 rebel group, which controls the city. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also stated on Sunday that it was assisting partners with the withdrawal of a small number of affected American nationals.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by Democratic Republic of Congo Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, on Sunday carrying tents intended to establish treatment facilities to support overstretched local hospitals.

WHO's representative in DRC, Anne Ancia, said WHO had emptied its stocks of protective equipment in the capital Kinshasa and was now preparing a cargo plane to bring additional supplies from a depot in Kenya.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Monday it was deploying an expert to its African counterpart's headquarters in Ethiopia to support operational planning, and the U.S. CDC said it planned to send more people to its offices in the DRC and Uganda.

On Monday, the U.S. embassy in Uganda announced that it had temporarily suspended all visa services in the country due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the East African nation, effectively restricting travel.

Health authorities said the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease, which, unlike the more common Zaire strain, has no approved virus-specific treatments or vaccines.

An earlier outbreak of the Zaire strain between 2018 and 2020 in North Kivu and Ituri provinces was the second deadliest on record, killing nearly 2,300 people. The response effort at the time was severely complicated by widespread armed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which continues to affect the region today.

Jean Pierre Badombo, the former mayor of Mongbwalu, a mining town in Ituri at the epicentre of the outbreak, said people started falling ill in April after a large open-casket funeral procession arrived from Bunia.

"After that, we experienced a cascade of deaths," he said.

WHO said it was notified on 5 May of an unknown illness with a high fatality rate in Mongbwalu, including the deaths of four healthcare workers within a four-day period, and subsequently deployed a rapid response team.

However, a series of procedural delays followed. According to Congolese health officials cited by Reuters, personnel in Bunia initially failed to escalate samples for further testing after they tested negative for the Zaire strain, which meant the virus was not identified until 14 May. An outbreak was officially declared the following day.

Lievin Bangali, IRC's senior health coordinator in DRC, said declining funding from international donors had also weakened disease detection.

"When surveillance networks break down, dangerous diseases like Ebola are able to spread further and faster before ⁠communities and health workers can respond," he said.

Congo has recorded 17 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976. The disease is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals, or through contact with contaminated objects and materials.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average fatality rate of Ebola is around 50%, although it has ranged between 25% and 90% in previous outbreaks.

Meanwhile, Uganda on Sunday postponed next month’s Martyrs’ Day celebrations — a national holiday that usually draws thousands of pilgrims from eastern Congo — due to the ongoing outbreak of Ebola virus disease.

Source: Reuters



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