A new Ebola outbreak has emerged in the the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Ituri province, according to country’s health ministry, which has reported the death toll to be 65 so far.
Country’s health minister Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba said late Friday that samples tested on Thursday confirmed eight cases of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in the health zones of Rwampara, Mongwalu, and Bunia.
What is Ebola
Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness endemic to Congo’s tropical forests. According to the Africa CDC, it spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people, contaminated materials, or those who have died from the disease.
So far 246 suspected cases have been identified, authorities said, adding that the suspected index case was a nurse at the Evangelical Medical Centre in Bunia who died after experiencing symptoms including fever, bleeding, vomiting, and severe weakness.
65 deaths so far
Africa’s top public health agency confirmed the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province on Friday and initially reported 65 deaths. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it was holding an urgent meeting with Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, and international partners to strengthen cross-border surveillance, preparedness, and response measures.
In response to the latest outbreak, the DRC government said it has activated its public health emergency operations centre, strengthened epidemiological and laboratory surveillance, and rapidly deployed emergency response teams.
Most deaths and suspected cases have reportedly been detected in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, while four fataltiies occurred among laboratory-confirmed cases. Additional suspected cases were also reported in Bunia, the provincial capital.
What we know on the strain
The Africa CDC said preliminary findings suggested the presence of a non-Zaire strain of the virus, with genetic sequencing still underway, according to a Reuters report. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the Congolese virologist who co-discovered Ebola and heads the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, told was quoted as saying that that 15 of Congo’s previous 16 outbreaks had involved the Zaire strain.
Muyembe warned that identifying a different variant could complicate response efforts because existing vaccines and treatments were designed for the Zaire strain.
“Africa CDC is concerned about the risk of further spread due to the urban context of Bunia and Rwampara” as well as “intense population movement” and mobility related to mining in the affected areas, which are close to Uganda and South Sudan, the agency said.
“Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighbouring countries, rapid regional coordination is essential,” Africa CDC director general Jean Kaseya was quoted as saying in the statement.
Uganda’s health ministry also reported that a Congolese man had died in Kampala from the Bundibugyo virus strain. Officials said the infection was imported from Congo and confirmed that no local transmission had been detected.
Positive Ebola cases at present
The World Health Organization (WHO) first learned of suspected cases on May 5 and sent a team to Ituri to assist investigations. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said initial field samples tested negative, but a laboratory in Kinshasa confirmed positive cases on Thursday. The total number of confirmed positive cases has now risen to 13.
Tedros said the WHO had released $500,000 from its contingency emergency fund to support surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, and clinical care efforts.
The outbreak comes as a double whammy for Ituri which has been mired in worsening violence. Clashes between rival militia groups have killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks in Ituri. Médecins Sans Frontières warned earlier this month that the violence had left many health facilities overwhelmed or non-functional and created severe hygiene conditions in displacement camps, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
This marks Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified there in 1976. The country’s most recent outbreak, in Kasai province, ended on December 1 after three months, with 45 deaths and 19 recoveries among 64 total cases.
