Fear has gripped Ebola-hit areas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the suspected number of deaths continues to rise. Officials say they are struggling to catch up to an outbreak that may have previously been spreading undetected.
"Ebola has tortured us," says a taxi rider in his late twenties in the gold-mining town of Rwampara. "I am scared because people are dying very fast... We are really afraid."
Following a visit to Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, Congolese Health Minister Dr Samuel Roger Kamba acknowledged health teams are playing catch-up with the virus, which may have been circulating earlier than first detected on 24 April.
The presumed patient zero is a nurse who died in the provincial capital Bunia but was buried in Mongwalu, also a gold-mining town. Most of the suspected cases and deaths have been reported there and in neighbouring Rwampara.
As of Tuesday, there were 514 suspected cases, with 136 people believed to have died from the virus. One person has also died in neighbouring Uganda. Cases have also been identified in Butembo city and rebel-controlled Goma in North Kivu province, as well as in South Kivu province.
Health officials say that several deaths occurred in the community without being reported to the authorities. According to the health ministry, formal community alerts were only registered from 8 May.
The outbreak has been caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has caused only two previous outbreaks—in 2007 and 2012—killing around 30% of those infected. Dr Kamba explained that Bundibugyo can show fewer obvious signs, delaying diagnosis.
International charity Save the Children said the Bundibugyo strain has not been seen in Ituri before. Limited testing was checking for the Zaïre strain and not coming up positive. "By the time the Bundibugyo strain was detected, it had already spread quite far," its DR Congo representative said.
Authorities warn that the spread of the virus into large urban centres presents serious challenges. None of the major cities—Bunia, Butembo, or Goma—has a fully operational Ebola treatment centre. Residents in Goma say basic public health measures, such as avoiding handshakes and regular handwashing, are widely ignored.
Eastern DR Congo is badly hit by conflict, bringing additional difficulties in dealing with the virus. The US has announced $13m in emergency assistance for DR Congo and Uganda. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Source: www.bbc.com