Ebola Outbreak Kills 65 in Eastern DRC, Officials Say

An Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed 65 people, health officials said.

The outbreak has produced 246 suspected cases of the hemorrhagic fever in Ituri province, a conflict-affected region bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

Uganda’s health ministry confirmed its own outbreak after a 59-year-old man who traveled from the DRC died from the disease at a Kampala hospital.

Officials at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention expressed concern about further spread, citing constant population movement in Ituri’s mining towns that complicates disease control.

Ebola is a severe illness with a high fatality rate, transmitted through direct contact with body fluids of infected individuals or corpses, including during funeral preparations.

The Africa CDC said the DRC’s national laboratory detected the Ebola virus in 13 of 20 samples tested.

The DRC has experienced 16 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was identified there in 1976, typically the Zaire strain for which vaccines exist. However, health officials said the current samples tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain, which has no licensed vaccine. Two previous Bundibugyo outbreaks occurred in 2007 and 2012.

The Africa CDC is convening an urgent meeting Friday with authorities from the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, the World Health Organization and pharmaceutical companies.

“Africa CDC stands in solidarity with the government and people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as they respond to this outbreak,” said Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC. “Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighbouring countries, rapid regional coordination is essential.”

Cases have been reported mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, with suspected cases also in neighboring Bunia.

Dr. Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo often sees fatalities from Ebola. There is likely a perfect storm of factors that cause these regular outbreaks. Close human contact with animal reservoirs, most likely bats but possibly also primates, is one factor. Other concerns include the movement of people between rural and urban environments, the tropical climate and the high rainforest coverage.”

During the 2014-16 West Africa outbreak, there were an estimated 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.