KINSHASA/ADDIS ABABA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda has prompted heightened regional and international concern, as health authorities reported over 100 suspected cases, cross-border infections and growing risks due to insecurity, population movement and a lack of strain-specific countermeasures.
RISING CASELOAD, CROSS-BORDER SPREAD
DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba said Tuesday that 513 suspected cases and 131 suspected deaths had been recorded in the country's affected zones.
"But not all are necessarily attributable to Ebola. These are suspected deaths, and investigations are underway to determine which are actually linked to the disease," Kamba told a briefing in Kinshasa after returning from the affected area.
On the same day, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that 30 cases have been reported in the DRC's eastern province of Ituri.
Uganda has informed the WHO of two confirmed cases in the capital, Kampala, including one death among two individuals who traveled from the DRC.
The outbreak, declared on May 15, is the DRC's 17th since 1976. Its epicenter is in Ituri province, but confirmed cases have also been reported in neighboring North Kivu province, including in Goma, a major city on the border with Rwanda.
RARE STRAIN, INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, a less common strain first identified in Uganda in 2007.
No strain-specific vaccine or therapeutics are currently available, unlike the better-known Zaire strain, for which vaccines and treatments have been developed.
In the DRC, the alert was initially delayed within the community because of a belief that it was a mystical disease, which contributed to the expansion of the outbreak, Kamba said.
The WHO on Sunday declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Tedros later said that he made the declaration before convening an emergency committee, a first for a WHO director-general, citing deep concern over the "scale and speed" of the epidemic.
A U.S. citizen had also tested positive and was transferred to Germany, said Tedros, adding that the WHO is working closely with the DRC, Uganda and the United States.
The WHO chief listed several factors behind the heightened concern, including cases in urban areas such as Kampala and Goma, deaths among health workers indicating healthcare-associated transmission, intense population movement, and insecurity in Ituri, where conflict has intensified over the past two months and more than 100,000 people have been newly displaced.
"Ituri is highly insecure," Tedros said, noting that displacement and mining-related mobility could increase the risk of further spread.
However, he said, even without strain-specific vaccines or therapeutics, countries could still curb transmission through risk communication, community engagement, surveillance, contact tracing and other public health measures.
CONTINENTAL, REGIONAL RESPONSE
On Monday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security, saying the decision would strengthen regional coordination, accelerate resource mobilization and support preparedness in neighboring countries.
"The confirmation of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in interconnected countries reminds us once again that Africa's health security is indivisible. We must act early, act together, and act based on science," Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said.
Neighboring countries, including Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, have stepped up surveillance, border screening and emergency preparedness.
Rwanda has since Sunday morning suspended cross-border movement through key crossings linking Goma and the Rwandan border city of Gisenyi, allowing only nationals returning to their respective countries to cross, according to local sources.
Despite the lack of specific vaccines and treatments for the Bundibugyo strain, DRC authorities have said the country has extensive experience in responding to Ebola.
Kamba, the health minister, said response measures were being reinforced in affected areas, including the construction of additional treatment sites.
The DRC has faced repeated Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified near the Ebola River in 1976. Its largest outbreak, caused by the Zaire strain, hit eastern DRC from 2018 to 2020, killing more than 2,200 people. ■
