The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda a “public health emergency of international concern” after the virus killed nearly 90 people. The outbreak, originating in eastern DRC’s Ituri province, involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Health authorities said the outbreak poses a high regional risk because infections have already been detected in Uganda and cases linked to the outbreak have reached Congo’s capital, Kinshasa. The WHO, however, stopped short of declaring a pandemic, saying it did not meet the necessary criteria. The United Nations agency advised countries against closing borders or restricting trade.
The outbreak was first reported in Ituri province on Friday near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan, according to Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). As of Saturday, the centre had reported 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases. The outbreak began in Mongwalu, a busy mining area, and infected people later traveled out of the area, seeking treatment in other places and spreading the disease.
The outbreak’s patient zero was a nurse who arrived at a health facility in Ituri’s capital, Bunia, on April 24, showing Ebola-like symptoms, DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said. Meanwhile, Uganda has recorded two laboratory-confirmed cases linked to travelers arriving from the DRC, including one death in the capital, Kampala.
“The number of cases and deaths we are seeing in such a short timeframe, combined with the spread across several health zones and now across the border, is extremely concerning,” warned Trish Newport with the medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “In Ituri, many people already struggle to access healthcare and live with ongoing insecurity, making rapid action critical to prevent the outbreak from escalating further,” she added.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal viral disease first identified in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the DRC. The virus is believed to originate in wild animals, particularly bats, before spreading to humans. The disease spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, vomit, semen or other contaminated materials, including bedding and clothing. People become contagious once symptoms appear.
Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, intense weakness, muscle pain and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding. The incubation period can last two to 21 days. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, first identified in Uganda in 2007, which has a “very high lethality rate, which can reach 50 percent”, Kamba said on Saturday. “The Bundibugyo strain has no vaccine, no specific treatment,” he added.
The WHO’s declaration of a “public health emergency of international concern” is the organization’s second-highest alert level under international health regulations. The agency stressed that the outbreak does not currently meet the threshold for a pandemic emergency, the highest level introduced after COVID-19. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said neighboring countries were “considered at high risk for further spread due to population mobility, trade and travel linkages, and ongoing epidemiological uncertainty.”
The organization urged neighboring countries to activate emergency-management systems, strengthen cross-border screening and isolate confirmed cases immediately. The WHO also recommended daily monitoring of contacts and recommended that exposed individuals avoid international travel for 21 days. At the same time, the WHO cautioned against border closures, saying restrictions could encourage unmonitored informal crossings and undermine containment efforts.
The DRC has experienced at least 17 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first discovered there in 1976, making it one of the countries most affected by the disease. The deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC occurred from 2018 to 2020 and killed nearly 2,300 people. Another outbreak last year killed at least 34 people before it was declared over in December. Ebola has killed about 15,000 people since it was discovered, almost all in Africa.
A conflict involving several rebel groups is likely to pose a significant challenge to the response to the virus, including in Ituri province. “The ongoing insecurity, humanitarian crisis, high population mobility, the urban or semiurban nature of the current hotspot and the large network of informal healthcare facilities further compound the risk of spread,” the WHO warned. This month, an attack by rebels killed at least 69 people in the northeastern province. The mineral-rich region faces ongoing attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement (M23).
Source: www.aljazeera.com