The World Health Organization has classified an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern province of Ituri as a public health emergency of international concern.
With 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths already reported, this outbreak is being treated as the 17th Ebola emergency in the DRC since the virus was first discovered there in 1976.
This one is a little different from previous Ebola events. The causative agent appears to be the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain for which there are currently no approved medicines or vaccines.
Eight of the suspected cases have been laboratory confirmed. All cases and deaths have occurred in three health zones: Bunia, the provincial capital, and two gold mining towns: Mongwalu and Rwampara.
According to WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, there are “significant uncertainties about the extent of the infection”.
The virus has not only crossed the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two cases have been confirmed in Uganda, including a 59-year-old man who died last week. The risk of infections in the urban areas of Bunia and Rwampara, along with mining activities in Mongwalu, has been identified as a key factor.
The population movement from the affected areas to nearby countries has Dr. Jean Kaseya of the Africa CDC was forced to emphasize the need for regional coordination as soon as possible.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected blood and other bodily fluids; it can also cause severe bleeding and organ failure. At first you may experience fever, muscle aches, headache and sore throat; then it tends to progress to vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and eventually bleeding that cannot be controlled.
According to WHO data, this virus has an average mortality rate of about 50%, yes. Over the past fifty years, approximately 15,000 people have died from Ebola across Africa. The deadliest outbreak in the DRC, from 2018 to 2020, actually claimed almost 2,300 lives.
