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Health authorities confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s remote Ituri province on Friday. So far, 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been registered.
The deaths and suspected cases were mainly recorded in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the continent’s leading public health agency, said in a statement.
The Ebola virus is highly contagious and can be transmitted through body fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare but serious and often fatal.
“Four deaths were reported among the laboratory-confirmed cases. Presumptive cases were also reported in Bunia, which are still pending confirmation,” the agency said, referring to the capital of Ituri province, near the border with Uganda.
It said preliminary laboratory results detected the virus in 13 of 20 samples tested.
The latest outbreak comes about five months after the last Ebola outbreak in Congo was declared over after 43 deaths.
Concerns about the risk of further spread
Located in a remote eastern part of Congo characterized by a poor road network, Ituri is more than 1,000 kilometers from the country’s capital, Kinshasa.
Africa CDC said it was concerned about the risk of further spread due to intense population movements, mining-related mobility in Mongwalu, insecurity in affected areas, gaps in the contact list and control difficulties.
The proximity of the affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan is also a cause for concern, it said.
The agency said it would convene an urgent high-level coordination meeting on Friday with health authorities from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, as well as key partners including UN agencies and other countries.
“The focus of the meeting will be on the priorities of immediate response, cross-border coordination, surveillance, laboratory support, infection prevention and control, risk communication, safe and dignified burials and resource mobilization,” it said.
The World Health Organization has classified the Ebola outbreak in Congo as a public health emergency of international concern.
This is the 17th outbreak in Congo since the disease first appeared in the country in 1976. A 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people.
An earlier outbreak that swept West Africa from 2014 to 2016 also killed more than 11,000 people.
The new outbreak will add further worry to the Central African country, which is battling various armed groups in the east, including the M23 rebel group, which launched a rapid attack in January last year and has since occupied key cities.
Notably, Ituri is also battling violence from the Allied Democratic Force, a militant group linked to the Islamic State that has killed dozens there and in other parts of the east.
Congo, Africa’s second largest country by area, often faces logistical challenges when responding to disease outbreaks. During last year’s outbreak, which lasted three months, the World Health Organization initially faced major challenges in delivering vaccines due to limited access and resource constraints.
