WHO Declares Global Health Emergency as Deadliest Ebola Outbreak Hits Congo and Uganda

Following reports of over 250 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths, CBS News noted that the World Health Organization classified the Ebola epidemic in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a public health emergency of international concern.

Health workers are racing to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the disease, which officials warn could have a true scope much larger than what has been reported so far, CBS News reported. The WHO stated the outbreak falls short of the criteria for a pandemic emergency like COVID-19 and advised against closing international borders.

Outbreak Details and Affected Regions

As reported by CBS News, Saturday data for Congo’s eastern Ituri province—the focal point of the epidemic—showed totals of eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases, and 80 suspected deaths under the emergency declaration. Two more laboratory-confirmed cases, including one death, were reported in Kampala, Uganda, within a day of each other in individuals who had traveled from Congo with no apparent link to each other.

The Africa CDC reported 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths in Congo, while regional health officials stated at a news conference that they have identified upwards of 300 probable cases overall, as reported by CBS News. According to the WHO Regional Office for Africa, tests performed by Kinshasa’s National Institute of Biomedical Research established that the Bundibugyo strain is responsible for the outbreak in 8 out of 13 specimens gathered from suspected patients tied to a cluster of critical illnesses and fatalities within Ituri Province’s Mongbwalu and Rwampara health zones.

Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba stated that the suspected index case is a nurse who died at a hospital in Bunia, with symptoms dating back to April 24, according to CBS News. Patients in the outbreak have presented with fever, generalized body pain, weakness, vomiting, and in some cases bleeding, with several cases deteriorating rapidly and dying, according to the WHO.

Strain Characteristics and Response Efforts

The Bundibugyo virus has only been responsible for two previous Ebola outbreaks: one in Uganda in 2007 resulting in 55 cases, and another in Congo in 2012 resulting in 57 cases, according to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for this specific strain, Gounder noted.

National authorities have activated emergency coordination mechanisms and deployed multidisciplinary rapid response teams, while the WHO is airlifting 5 metric tonnes of supplies—including infection prevention and control materials, laboratory sample transportation equipment, tents, and case management supplies—from Kinshasa to Bunia, according to the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has extensive experience responding to Ebola outbreaks, and WHO is rapidly scaling up support to the ongoing response. Working closely with national authorities and partners, we are mobilizing swiftly, deploying additional expertise and resources to halt the spread of the virus, protect and save lives. — Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa

According to the WHO, the current emergency represents the 17th documented instance of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tracing back to the virus’s initial 1976 discovery in Equateur Province’s Yambuku. Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders stated it was preparing a large-scale response and called the rapid spread extremely concerning, as reported by Agence France-Presse and cited by CBS News.