The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo a public health emergency of international concern following the rising number of infections and deaths linked to the virus in Ituri province.
The global health agency, however, clarified that the outbreak has not reached the threshold for a pandemic emergency despite about 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths already recorded.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that there are still “significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread” of the disease.
According to the WHO, the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there are presently no approved vaccines or drugs.
The agency disclosed that eight laboratory-confirmed cases have so far been identified, while additional suspected infections and deaths have been reported across three health zones, including Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, as well as the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara.
The outbreak has also crossed borders into neighbouring Uganda, where two confirmed cases have already been recorded.
Ugandan authorities confirmed that a 59-year-old man who died on Thursday tested positive for the virus.
The WHO warned that countries bordering DR Congo remain at high risk of further transmission because of frequent movement of people, trade activities and cross-border travel.
To contain the outbreak, the agency advised both DR Congo and Uganda to establish emergency operation centres to strengthen monitoring, contact tracing and infection-prevention measures.
It also recommended that confirmed Ebola patients be immediately isolated and treated until two Bundibugyo virus-specific tests conducted at least 48 hours apart return negative results.
The WHO further urged neighbouring countries to intensify surveillance systems and improve health reporting in areas at risk of exposure.
At the same time, the organisation cautioned against border closures or restrictions on travel and trade, stressing that “such measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science”.
Ebola was first identified in 1976 in what is now DR Congo and is believed to have originated from bats.
The current outbreak marks the 17th occurrence of the deadly viral disease in the country.
The virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids or broken skin and can trigger severe bleeding and organ failure.
Common early symptoms include fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat before progressing to vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes and bleeding.
Although there is no proven cure for Ebola, the WHO estimates the disease has an average fatality rate of about 50 per cent.
Earlier, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention raised concerns over the high risk of further spread due to urban activities in Rwampara and Bunia, as well as mining operations in Mongwalu.
The agency’s Executive Director, Jean Kaseya, noted that “significant population movement” between the affected communities and neighbouring countries made regional co-ordination crucial.
Over the past five decades, Ebola outbreaks have claimed around 15,000 lives across Africa.
DR Congo experienced its deadliest outbreak between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people died, while another outbreak last year killed 45 people in a remote region of the country.
