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The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a new Ebola outbreak that has already killed 80 people and produced 246 suspected cases.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, Ebola is a highly contagious viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, with the World Health Organization putting the average fatality rate around 50% and the US CDC noting it can hit 80 to 90% without treatment. The disease is believed to originate in fruit bats, which carry the virus without getting sick themselves, and typically jumps to humans through contact with infected wild animals like bats, primates, or forest antelopes via hunting or handling bushmeat. The virus was first identified in 1976 in the DRC, which has had 17 outbreaks since.
What’s going on now: The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said laboratory testing has confirmed Ebola in 13 of 20 samples. The suspected first case was a nurse who died at Bunia’s Evangelical Medical Centre. The agency said it was setting up an emergency meeting with DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, and other international partners, and warned that the outbreak’s urban setting, mining-related population movement, and cross-border travel could fuel rapid spread. Uganda has already confirmed one imported case after a 59-year-old Congolese man died in a Kampala hospital on Thursday.
The WHO released $500,000 in emergency funding and dispatched a response team. The DRC has roughly 2,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine on hand, but the vaccine is not effective against the Bundibugyo strain involved in this outbreak. The outbreak also lands in a region wracked by violence, with clashes between rival militia groups and the Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces killing scores of civilians in recent weeks.
This all comes as the US State Department has placed Ituri province under a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory, with the US CDC saying it is monitoring the outbreak closely and supporting Congo’s Ministry of Health but considers the risk to Americans to be low.
