The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) this Sunday (17) due to an Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which is severely affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and has already extended to Uganda. The decision was announced by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who stated that the epidemic does not yet meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency but poses a significant risk of regional spread.
To date, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has recorded 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases of the disease. Fear of further expansion increased after the confirmation of a positive case in Goma, a strategic city currently controlled by the M23 armed group. According to Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), the patient is the wife of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia and traveled to Goma already infected.
DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba warned that the Bundibugyo strain has no vaccine or specific treatment, and its fatality rate can reach 50%. Only the Zaire strain, identified in 1976, has available vaccines, but its mortality rate is even higher, ranging from 60% to 90%.
The initial focus of the outbreak is in Ituri province in the northeast of the country, a border region with Uganda and South Sudan, marked by intense mining activity and armed violence. The WHO estimates that the actual number of infected people may be much higher than reported, due to access difficulties and low laboratory testing capacity.
“For two weeks we have been seeing people die. There is no place to isolate the sick. They are dying at home and their families care for the bodies,” reported Isaac Nyakulinda, a local civil society representative, in an interview with AFP.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it is preparing a large-scale response, while the WHO has already sent five tons of medical supplies to the region. The Congolese government and Africa CDC have called an urgent meeting with disease control agencies from the United States, China, and the European Union to strengthen border surveillance.
This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. The disease, which has killed about 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years, continues to pose a significant health and logistical challenge, especially in conflict areas.