DR Congo Ebola Outbreak Kills 80, WHO Declares International Emergency

By Al Mayadeen English

The WHO has declared an international health emergency after an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo killed over 80 people, with hundreds of suspected cases reported.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency on Sunday after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than 80 people, while health authorities warned that no vaccine currently exists for the strain involved.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), at least 88 people have died and 336 suspected cases have been recorded in the outbreak of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever.

The WHO said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, now constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern,” the second-highest alert level under international health regulations.

The Geneva-based organization warned that the true scale of infections and geographic spread remains unclear, though it stopped short of declaring a pandemic emergency, the highest alert level introduced in 2024.

No vaccine available for Bundibugyo strain

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced it was preparing a “large-scale response,” warning that the rapid spread of the virus was “extremely concerning.”

DR Congo’s Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said the Bundibugyo strain has neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment.

“This strain has a very high lethality rate, which can reach 50 percent,” Kamba said.

The Bundibugyo strain, first identified in 2007, has already spread beyond DR Congo’s borders, with officials confirming the death of a Congolese national in neighboring Uganda.

Vaccines currently exist only for the Zaire strain of Ebola, first identified in 1976, which carries a fatality rate ranging between 60 and 90 percent.

Health officials formally confirmed the latest outbreak on Friday in Ituri province in northeastern DR Congo, which borders Uganda and South Sudan.

“We've been seeing people die for the past two weeks,” local civil society representative Isaac Nyakulinda told AFP by phone. “There is nowhere to isolate the sick. They are dying at home and their bodies are being handled by their family members,” he added.

WHO warns outbreak could spread further

According to Kamba, the outbreak’s patient zero was a nurse who sought treatment at a health facility in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, on April 24 after developing symptoms consistent with Ebola. Symptoms of the disease include fever, vomiting, and hemorrhaging.

MSF Emergency Programme Manager Trish Newport said the combination of rising deaths, multiple affected health zones, and confirmed cross-border cases raised fears of a wider regional outbreak.

“The number of cases and deaths we are seeing in such a short timeframe, combined with the spread across several health zones and now across the border, is extremely concerning,” Newport said.

Authorities also warned that logistical challenges could hamper containment efforts in DR Congo, a country of more than 100 million people with limited transport and communications infrastructure.

The WHO warned there was a “high risk” of regional spread, noting that confirmed cases in two countries and rising suspected infections suggest the outbreak could be significantly larger than currently reported.

The latest outbreak marks the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in DR Congo. The country’s previous outbreak, declared in August last year in the central region, killed at least 34 people before it was officially declared over in December.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo occurred between 2018 and 2020, killing nearly 2,300 people. Believed to originate in bats, Ebola can cause severe bleeding, organ failure, and death, with historical mortality rates ranging between 25 and 90 percent, according to the WHO.