The World Health Organisation has declared the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern, as the death toll has risen to at least 131 with more than 500 suspected cases reported.
Outbreak Escalates Rapidly
International teams are working to contain the outbreak across two countries. The numbers mark a sharp increase from Monday, when officials reported 300 suspected cases, highlighting the unknown scale of the outbreak. Health authorities say the outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he is “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.” The UN health agency will convene its emergency committee later on Tuesday. He cited the emergence of cases in urban areas, deaths of healthcare workers, significant population movement, and lack of vaccines as main reasons for concern “for further spread and further deaths.”
Cross-Border Spread
There has also been one case and one death reported in Uganda. An American doctor, Dr Peter Stafford, is among the cases in Bunia. He had been treating patients at a hospital there when he developed symptoms. DR Congo has said the first person died from the virus on April 24 in Bunia, and the body was repatriated to the Mongbwalu health zone. “That caused the Ebola outbreak to escalate,” said health minister Mr Kamba.
When another person fell ill on April 26, samples were sent to Kinshasa for testing, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control. Samples from Bunia were initially tested for the more common type of Ebola. They came back negative, and local authorities assumed it was not Ebola. On May 5, the WHO was alerted of about 50 deaths in Mongbwalu, including four health workers, which prompted further tests. The first confirmation of Ebola came on May 14.
Symptoms and Transmission
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare but severe and often fatal. During a big Ebola outbreak over a decade ago, which killed more than 11,000, many got infected while washing bodies during community funerals.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days. A person is not contagious until they start showing symptoms. The disease typically begins abruptly with influenza-like symptoms that can easily be mistaken for other common illnesses like malaria, typhoid, or the flu.
- Sudden, high fever
- Severe headache
- Extreme fatigue and weakness (malaise)
- Muscle and joint aches
- Sore throat and loss of appetite
As the virus multiplies and damages the immune system and organs, more severe gastrointestinal symptoms develop. These are highly infectious:
- Severe diarrhoea
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal (stomach) pain
- A flat, red skin rash (sometimes appearing 5 to 7 days into the illness)
- Impaired kidney and liver function
While Ebola is famously known as a hemorrhagic fever, visible severe bleeding does not happen in every patient, but rather in advanced cases. Internal and external bleeding can include bleeding or oozing from the gums, nose, or eyes; bleeding from injection sites; blood in vomit or stool; easy bruising; or blood spots under the skin.
The combination of severe vomiting and diarrhoea quickly leads to dangerous dehydration. In fatal cases, death usually occurs 6 to 16 days after the first symptoms appear, typically due to multi-organ failure and severe shock from fluid loss. Early supportive medical care, such as IV fluids and symptom management, drastically increases the chances of survival.
