Key takeaways:
- Congo’s outbreak has killed more than 5,000 people and affected eight of its 26 provinces.
- Nigeria is testing two suspected cases and tracing their contacts; neither case has been confirmed.
- The Bundibugyo strain has no approved treatment or vaccine, though vaccine trials are under way.
More than 5,000 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, the deadliest the country has recorded, as Nigerian authorities investigate two suspected cases in the northeast.
The outbreak began in May and has spread to eight of Congo’s 26 provinces, with more than 10,300 confirmed cases. Government figures put the case fatality rate at 48.6%, the BBC reported. The health ministry says the epicentre remains in the northeastern province of Ituri, where conflict has made the virus harder to contain.
Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday that the two people under investigation had been isolated while officials identified contacts and conducted laboratory tests. “Being classified as suspected cases does not mean they are confirmed Ebola cases; confirmation is subject to laboratory results,” it said.
The investigation follows a confirmed case in Nigeria in October. Al Jazeera reported that the patient was a Swiss woman who had travelled there from Uganda. She and her husband, a Swiss diplomat, were evacuated to Switzerland. The BBC reported that she was flown there for further treatment.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. There is no approved treatment or vaccine for that strain, though vaccine trials are under way. Testing and treatment are also continuing, according to the World Health Organization’s Africa office, which called for a “continued scale-up of key control measures, greater access to affected areas, and community outreach”.
Finding cases early remains a major obstacle. Health authorities say only about 12% of confirmed cases in Congo were identified among people already known to have had contact with a patient, according to Al Jazeera. Many deaths have occurred in communities, the outlet reported.
Health workers face dangers beyond the disease. Al Jazeera reported that two young Congolese doctors died from Ebola in North Kivu and Ituri earlier this week, prompting the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to call for stronger protections for front-line staff. The BBC reported that a nurse was killed and another health worker seriously injured while responding to an Ebola alert. Local youths had accused them of contaminating water sources and spreading the virus, according to the UN-backed Radio Okapi.
The BBC also reported that a politician was beaten to death last month after promoting Ebola prevention measures. In August, the Red Cross said volunteers were injured and an ambulance was set on fire during 11 violent incidents in the outbreak’s first 100 days.
Cases have been reported beyond Congo. According to the BBC, Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths shortly after the outbreak began, but has reported no cases since August; restrictions remain for travellers crossing from Congo. The BBC reported nine confirmed cases and two deaths in Kenya. Al Jazeera also listed France among countries that have reported Bundibugyo cases.
The United Nations says this is Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak and the world’s second largest. Congo’s previous deadliest outbreak killed 2,299 people between 2018 and 2020, according to the UN. The 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak killed more than 11,325 people, according to the WHO. The UN has warned that the current outbreak is “taking lives at a much faster rate”.
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