DAKAR, Senegal — More than 200 people have died in the first month of the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda, marking it as the most severe outbreak recorded at this stage. Up to 35,000 people are suspected to have been in contact with the virus, according to Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which provided an update on Thursday.
Currently, there are 894 confirmed cases, which is three times the number of cases compared to a similar period during a previous outbreak in Uganda in 2000, which saw 281 cases, stated Dr. Wessam Mankoula, a medical epidemiologist at Africa CDC.
The number of cases is thought to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed on May 15, several weeks after it was initially suspected. Since last week, there has been a 38% increase in cases, now spreading across 32 health zones in eastern Congo, Mankoula noted.
This outbreak is attributed to the rare Bundibugyo virus, which lacks approved vaccines or treatments and was not tested for in the initial stages. Previous outbreaks in Congo were primarily due to the more common Zaire virus, which has a vaccine and accounted for most of Congo’s last 16 outbreaks of the disease.
So far, 74 patients have recovered in eastern Congo and Uganda. Experimental treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, are being developed for Bundibugyo.
The outbreak is primarily located in the eastern province of Ituri in Congo, which accounts for over 90% of the cases. Additional cases have been reported in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, with the virus spreading into Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases and two deaths have occurred.
Contact tracing efforts are hindered by the region’s remote locations and ongoing security issues in Ituri province, said Mankoula.
“For those 800 confirmed cases, we should have between 17,000 to 35,000 contacts that should be in our contact list,” Mankoula stated. Currently, only around 4,000 contacts have been tracked and are being evaluated, which is less than 15% of the expected number.
“We are still far from controlling the situation of this outbreak,” Mankoula added.
Years of conflict have displaced nearly a million people in Ituri, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, complicating contact tracing efforts as people frequently move or flee attacks in a vast province with dense forests, poor roads, and remote villages that are difficult to access.
Tracking efforts are also challenging among the thousands of miners who frequently move between remote sites in the mineral-rich region.
Out of over $900 million pledged to combat the outbreak, only $90 million has been released so far, complicating the crisis, Mankoula reported.
Africa CDC estimates that 540 personnel are needed to fight the outbreak, yet only 84 are currently available.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed those new pledges will be fast-tracked, and we’ll be following up with different member states and different partners about their commitment to turn those pledges into actual money released to their affected countries or partners,” said Mankoula.
— Wilson McMakin
