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Africa’s public health agency confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s remote Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far, as reported by Africa CDC on May 15.
In its update, Africa CDC said the reported deaths and suspected cases were recorded mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones. The agency said 65 deaths had been attributed to the outbreak and that laboratory confirmation had been obtained for four of those deaths.
The outbreak raises broader regional concerns because Ituri’s affected areas sit close to Uganda and also to South Sudan’s border, Africa CDC said. The agency pointed to factors including intense population movement, mining-related mobility in Mongwalu, insecurity in affected areas, and gaps in contact listing and control as risks that could complicate containment.
Africa CDC said it was convening an urgent coordination meeting on Friday with health authorities from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, along with partners that include U.N. agencies and other countries. The Africa CDC statement also described the disease and its transmissibility, noting that Ebola is highly contagious and can spread through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen.
The World Health Organization said Congo has a stockpile of treatments and about 2,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine. The WHO said the Ervebo vaccine is effective against the Ebola Zaire strain, but not against the Sudan virus or Bundibugyo virus, and that scientists were still working to determine which virus variant is driving the current outbreak.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the WHO sent a team to help Congo investigate the outbreak and collect samples after initial results did not confirm Ebola. Tedros said a new analysis on Thursday did confirm Ebola, and he described Congo as having a “strong track record in Ebola response and control,” adding that the WHO was releasing $500,000 to aid Congo’s response.
Uganda later reported one death in an Ebola case it said was imported from Congo. Uganda’s health ministry said the case involved a Congolese man who was admitted to a hospital in Kampala three days before he died, and that the patient was tested posthumously on Friday after Congo confirmed its outbreak. The ministry said all contacts linked to the man had been quarantined and that the deceased’s body had been taken back to Congo.
The Ugandan ministry said the person was infected with the Bundibugyo virus, a variant of Ebola that it said has been endemic in Uganda. Separately, the acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jay Bhattacharya, said U.S. officials were in contact with counterparts in Congo and Uganda and that they were “going to provide whatever they need and that we are capable of providing them.”
The new outbreak comes about five months after Congo’s last Ebola outbreak was declared over following 43 deaths, according to the AP report. Ituri, in eastern Congo, is described as having poor road networks and as being more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Kinshasa, the capital.
Dr. Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health who has been involved in past Ebola outbreak responses in Congo, said that in terms of training, people already know what they can do, but that expertise and equipment need to be delivered quickly. Africa CDC also said scientists were trying to determine exactly which virus variant is responsible, with sequencing continuing to provide more clarity.