The WHO is concerned about the ‘scale and speed’ of the Ebola outbreak, with 131 deaths now
At least 131 people have died and more than 500 suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in eastern Congo, the Congolese Ministry of Health said on Tuesday as the head of the World Health Organization expressed concern over “the extent and speed of this epidemic.”
The virus can spread undetected at least weeks before the first person dies, health experts and aid workers say, and the delayed response is now putting strain on efforts to contain the outbreak.
The Minister of Health in Congo, Samuel Roger Kamba said that 513 suspects have died and 131, although he added that “these are suspected to have died, and the investigation is ongoing to determine which ones are really connected to this disease.” The numbers represent a sharp increase from Monday, when officials said there were 300 suspected cases, and highlight the unknown extent of the outbreak.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of this epidemic” and the UN health organization will convene its emergency committee later on Tuesday.
He said the emergence of cases in urban areas, the death of health care workers, the significant movement of people in the area and the lack of vaccines and medicines are the worrisome reasons for the “increase and death rate.”
Ebola is highly contagious and can be acquired through bodily fluids. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.
Health authorities say the outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola virus that has no approved treatments or vaccines. The death rate from previous outbreaks of the variant earlier this century ranged from 30 to 50 percent, the WHO said.
A new outbreak of Ebola in the far northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 65 people. Early testing identifies a very rare strain of the virus for which there is currently no vaccine.
A US doctor is infected
The WHO declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of global concern on Sunday.
Cases have been confirmed in Bunia, the capital of North Kivu rebel-held Goma, Mongbwalu, Butembo, and Nyakunde. There was also one case and death reported in Uganda among people from Congo.
Dr. Peter Stafford, an American doctor, is among the cases in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the medical director of the National Institute of Bio-Medical Research in this country.
Stafford had been treating patients at the hospital when he developed symptoms, Serge, the organization he works for, said in a statement.
Three other employees of Serge have been working at the same hospital – including Stafford’s wife – but are showing no symptoms.
A spokesman for the German Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that they are preparing to treat an American citizen infected with Ebola, at the behest of the American government.
“Plans are currently being made to admit and treat the patient in Germany,” said a ministry spokesman, adding that there is a network of experts in the country to manage and care for patients with highly contagious diseases.
Since January, the US is no longer affiliated with the WHO, and the administration of Donald Trump is currently without a director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, amid turmoil and changes in the Department of Health and Human Services led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The US State Department said in a press release on Monday that it has provided $13 million in aid to fight Ebola in Congo and Uganda.
“Our first objective is to ensure the safety of Americans abroad and the protection of the United States,” the department said on social media.
Eruptions in volatile environments
Congo said the first person died of the virus on April 24 in Bunia, and the body was brought back to the health center of Mongbwalu, a densely populated mining area.
“That made the outbreak of Ebola more widespread,” said Kamba, who is the health minister.
When another person fell ill on April 26, samples were sent to Kinshasa for testing, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control.
Bunia’s samples were first tested for the most common type of Ebola in Zaire, Congo officials said, and came back negative.
On May 5, the WHO was notified of the deaths of around 50 people in Mongbwalu, including four health workers, prompting further investigations. The first confirmation of Ebola came on Thursday.
Matthew M. Kavanagh, director of the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy and Politics said that because of false positives, “we are playing catch-up against a very dangerous virus.”
As It Happened1:16:54Lessons not learned from the last Ebola outbreak
The situation is “very worrying and it’s developing very quickly. We were diagnosed too late,” said Esther Sterk with the aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers. But he said that is often the case with Ebola outbreaks, which have similar symptoms to other tropical diseases.
The intensity of the symptoms and the increased burden of the case cause discomfort.
“I know the effects of Ebola, I know what it’s like,” said Noela Lumo, a resident of Bunia who previously lived in Beni, a district that was hit by the outbreak in the past. Upon learning of the latest outbreak, Lumo began making protective masks by hand.
Eastern Congo has long faced a humanitarian crisis and the threat of armed groups that killed scores and displaced thousands of people in Ituri last year.
