WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda an emergency of international concern

By Disha Mishra and Akanksha Khushi

May 17 (Reuters) – An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation, after 80 suspected deaths and nine laboratory-confirmed cases. 

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

On Sunday, the U.N. health agency said in a statement that 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases had been reported as of Saturday in the DRC’s Ituri province across at least three health zones, including Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu.

A ninth case was confirmed in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, a statement by M23 rebels said.

INTERNATIONAL SPREAD DOCUMENTED, WHO SAYS

The DRC health ministry had said on Friday 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 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 an 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 at main internal roads.    

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

A laboratory-confirmed case was also reported in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, from a person returning from Ituri, the WHO said.

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 diarrhoea, spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons, contaminated materials or persons who have died from the disease, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Reporting by Disha Mishra and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Kopano Gumbi in Johannesburg; Editing by William Mallard)