Africa’s latest Ebola outbreak has infected more than 10,000 people, with nearly 4,900 deaths reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congolese health authorities said Tuesday.
According to figures from the DRC, 10,060 people have contracted the virus and 4,887 have died since the outbreak was detected in May. It is the country’s largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic.
Cases have also been reported in Kenya and Nigeria, while Uganda, which recorded cases earlier in the outbreak, was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August. The WHO has warned that containing the outbreak across several countries presents a complex challenge.
In the DRC, 2,684 people have recovered from the disease, according to the country’s National Institute of Public Health. The reported figures put the outbreak’s fatality rate at nearly 50%.
One of the main challenges facing the response is the lack of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo virus, the strain responsible for the outbreak. Researchers have begun testing whether the Ervebo vaccine, which is effective against the more common Zaire strain, could also protect against Bundibugyo.
After spreading undetected for weeks, the virus was first identified in the northeastern Congolese province of Ituri, marking the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak.
It has since spread across parts of the country’s north and east, where violence by armed groups and limited trust in state institutions complicate efforts to contain the disease.
Ituri and North Kivu province account for most reported cases. Parts of North Kivu are controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.
After reporting 20 cases and two deaths, Uganda was declared Ebola-free by the WHO in late August.
Kenya, which had not reported a confirmed case until Oct. 6, has recorded nine cases and two deaths. The cases have been linked to a traveler who arrived from the DRC via Uganda.
Nigeria confirmed one case on Oct. 20 involving a 42-year-old Swiss woman who had traveled to Uganda with her husband. She was subsequently evacuated to a hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. Authorities are investigating how she contracted the virus, as she had no known travel history to the DRC.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Agence France-Presse that the organization was investigating the source of the infection.
“We saw that the genomic sequencing of the Kenyan case is similar to the Nigerian case. And we discovered that yesterday with some cases in Beni,” he said.
“Today it’s an outbreak in three regions. We didn’t see that since we started to have experience of Ebola outbreaks. We were not thinking that Nigeria could be an at risk country.”
When the outbreak was declared, only three health zones in one province were affected, Kaseya said.
“Today we are talking about eight provinces, more than 66 health zones. To give you an idea, it’s like twice the size of the UK.”
Nigerian health authorities had identified 53 contacts of the Swiss woman as they sought to prevent further transmission.
Some experts have raised concerns that the virus could have spread after the couple arrived in Nigeria on Oct. 3.
The WHO said the woman developed symptoms on Oct. 7, sought medical care in Abuja on Oct. 11 and tested positive for the Bundibugyo virus on Oct. 20.
Ugandan officials have rejected suggestions that she contracted the disease while in Uganda.
Efforts to contain the outbreak in the DRC have been hampered by mistrust among some communities.
A nurse was killed and another health worker seriously wounded in the northeastern province of Tshopo on Saturday, according to the WHO.
Marcel Likolo, chief medical officer of the Bafwasende health district, told AFP that young people in the area accused the two workers of trying to infect residents with tablets before attacking them.
The Ebola treatment center where the attack occurred has since closed, Likolo said.
Since Ebola was first identified in 1976, the disease has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa.
Researchers are testing whether the Ervebo vaccine, which has demonstrated effectiveness against the Zaire strain of Ebola, could also provide protection against the Bundibugyo virus.
