DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Congolese health minister announced the opening of three treatment centers in the eastern Ituri region as the country grapples with an outbreak of a rare variant of Ebola virus that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
“We know that the hospitals are already under stress because of the patients,” Samuel Roger Kamba said during a visit to Bunia, the capital and largest city in Ituri, on Sunday. “But we are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our capabilities.”
The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths in Congo and two in neighboring Uganda. Although the outbreak is centered in Ituri, cases have been reported in the capital, Kinshasa, and in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa said on X that a team of 35 experts from the WHO and the Congolese Ministry of Health had arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, along with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
An unusual strain
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.
Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
Dr. Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health who has been involved in past Ebola outbreak responses in Congo, said treatments for viral infections like Ebola are often directed at symptoms.
He said Congo has extensive experience managing Ebola outbreaks, but response efforts could be complicated by the unusual strain.
The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37. The second time was in 2012, in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
The outbreak started in a remote locality already grappling with a humanitarian crisis
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the first cases were reported in Mongwalu health zone, a high-traffic mining area in Ituri.
Ituri is in a remote eastern part of Congo, with poor road networks, and is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the nation’s capital, Kinshasa. Eastern Congo has been grappling with a humanitarian crisis even before the new outbreak has been confirmed.
The agency said there’s also a risk of further spread due to intense population movement and attacks by armed groups that have killed dozens and displaced thousands in parts of Ituri in the past year.
“The outbreak is currently occurring in provinces marred by crisis including insecurity, presence of armed actors or de facto authorities with large displacement, weak health systems and insufficient availability of services,” the WHO said on Monday. It added that since January 2025, there have been 44 attacks on health care facilities in Congo and 742 incidents affecting humanitarian workers.
Health officials are in ‘panic mode’ due to lack of medicines and vaccines
The WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. By the agency’s standards, it shows the event is serious, there is a risk of international spread and it requires a coordinated international response.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa CDC, told Sky News on Sunday that he is in “panic mode” due to a lack of medicines and vaccines as deaths rise, but there are some candidate treatments anticipated in the coming weeks.
Rwanda closed its land border with Congo on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said on social media. Associated Press reporters tried to cross the border on Sunday and Monday morning, but were informed it was closed except for holders of international flight tickets. Rwandan authorities have not replied to a request for comment.
The East African Community a regional bloc that includes Congo, said Monday that the new Ebola outbreak underscores the importance of regional solidarity and preparedness. Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, the deputy secretary-general, said that given the high level of movement of people and goods across the region, coordinated preparedness and rapid information sharing are essential to preventing cross-border transmission.
He added in a statement that the bloc is committed to helping its members strengthen surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control and other efforts, particularly in border areas.
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