80 suspected Ebola deaths: WHO declares emergency over Congo, Uganda outbreak

GENEVA, Switzerland – At least 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases, and 246 suspected infections had been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, while one case was also confirmed in the eastern city of Goma, the World Health Organization said on Sunday, May 17.

A number of Americans in the DRC are believed to have been exposed to suspected cases in the country, with several exposures deemed high risk, including one that may have developed symptoms, STAT News reported. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda prompted the WHO to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

The WHO said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency, but countries sharing land borders with the DRC are at high risk of further spread.

The cases were reported across at least three health zones in Ituri province, including Bunia, Rwampara, and Mongbwalu, the UN health agency said.

Officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters on Sunday the agency has activated its emergency response center for the outbreak and plans to send more people to its offices in the DRC and Uganda. Satish Pillai, CDC Ebola response incident manager, declined to say whether any Americans were among those infected but stressed that the risk to the US remains low.

International spread documented

The DRC health ministry had said on Friday, May15, that 80 people had died in the new outbreak in the eastern province.

The 17th outbreak in the country, where Ebola was first identified in 1976, could in fact be much larger, given the high positivity rate of the initial samples and the increasing number of suspected cases being reported, the WHO said.

The outbreak is “extraordinary” as there are no approved Bundibugyo virus-specific therapeutics or vaccines, unlike for Ebola-Zaire strains, it said. All but one of the country’s previous outbreaks were caused by the Zaire strain.

The DRC-Uganda outbreak poses a public health risk to other countries, with some cases of international spread already documented, the agency said, advising countries to activate their national disaster and emergency-management mechanisms and undertake cross-border screening and screening on major internal roads.

In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed cases, including one death, were reported on Friday and Saturday from people traveling from the DRC, the WHO said.

The WHO said on Sunday that a previously reported laboratory-confirmed case in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, had tested negative after secondary testing was conducted.

Bundibugyo virus disease contacts or cases should not travel internationally unless as part of a medical evacuation, the WHO said.

The agency advised immediately isolating confirmed cases and monitoring contacts daily, with restricted national travel and no international travel until 21 days after exposure.

At the same time, the WHO urged countries not to close their borders or restrict travel and trade out of fear, as this could lead to people and goods making informal border crossings that are not monitored.

The DRC’s dense tropical forests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus.

Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement that he had requested technical guidance and recommendations on the potential need to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security.

The often-fatal virus, which causes fever, body aches, vomiting, and diarrhea, spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons, contaminated materials, or people who have died from the disease, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. – Rappler.com