By Ayo Kehinde
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has confirmed a fresh outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the country’s eastern Ituri Province, with authorities reporting 80 deaths and 246 suspected cases amid growing fears of regional spread.
The outbreak, confirmed by the Congolese Ministry of Health late Friday, involves the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a less common variant that experts say could complicate containment efforts because most existing vaccines and treatments were developed primarily for the Zaire strain.
Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba disclosed that laboratory samples tested on Thursday confirmed eight cases of the virus in the health zones of Rwampara, Mongwalu and Bunia.
According to the ministry, the suspected index case was a nurse who died at the Evangelical Medical Centre in Bunia after developing symptoms including fever, bleeding, vomiting and severe weakness.
The Congolese government has since activated its public health emergency operations centre, strengthened epidemiological and laboratory surveillance, and ordered the rapid deployment of emergency response teams to affected communities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it first received reports of suspected Ebola cases on May 5 and immediately dispatched an emergency team to Ituri to support investigations and response activities.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said initial field samples tested negative before a laboratory in Kinshasa later confirmed positive cases on Thursday.
Tedros disclosed that the number of laboratory-confirmed infections has risen to 13. He added that the WHO has released $500,000 from its contingency emergency fund to support surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing and clinical care operations in the affected province.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention earlier confirmed the outbreak and warned of the risk of regional transmission due to the high movement of people between eastern Congo and neighbouring countries.
The continental health agency said deaths and suspected infections were concentrated mainly in Mongwalu and Rwampara, while additional suspected cases had also emerged in Bunia, the provincial capital.
Africa CDC Director-General, Jean Kaseya, stressed the need for urgent regional coordination involving Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and international health partners.
“Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighbouring countries, rapid regional coordination is essential,” Kaseya said.
The agency noted that mining-related mobility, urban population density and porous borders around affected communities significantly increase the possibility ofA further transmission.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health also confirmed that a Congolese man infected with the Bundibugyo strain died in Kampala.
Authorities, however, clarified that the case was imported from Congo and that no local transmission had yet been recorded in Uganda.
Congolese virologist, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who co-discovered Ebola and heads the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, warned that the identification of a non-Zaire strain could complicate containment efforts.
According to Muyembe, almost all of Congo’s previous Ebola outbreaks were linked to the Zaire strain, making the current Bundibugyo variant relatively uncommon in the country.
He explained that most available vaccines and therapeutics were specifically designed against the Zaire strain, potentially limiting their effectiveness against the newly identified variant.
The outbreak marks Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976.
The country’s most recent outbreak, which occurred in Kasai Province, was officially declared over on December 1 after three months. That outbreak recorded 64 cases, including 45 deaths and 19 recoveries.
