An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed at least 80 people and spread into neighbouring Uganda, with health authorities warning that the Bundibugyo strain involved has no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
The outbreak, confirmed in Ituri province in northeastern Congo near the Ugandan and South Sudanese borders, has resulted in nearly 250 suspected cases, according to Congo’s health ministry.
Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said on Saturday the Bundibugyo strain carried a fatality rate that could reach 50%.“This strain has no vaccine, no specific treatment,” Kamba said.
Officials said the death toll rose to 80 from 65 a day earlier, while one infected Congolese national also died in Kampala, Uganda.
Uganda’s health ministry said the 59-year-old man had been admitted to a hospital in Kampala earlier in the week before dying. His body was later repatriated to Congo.
Tests confirmed he had contracted the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, first identified in 2007.
Existing vaccines are only approved for the Zaire strain of the virus.According to Kamba, the outbreak’s suspected index case was a nurse who sought treatment in the provincial capital, Bunia, on April 24 with symptoms consistent with Ebola.
Medical aid organisation Doctors Without Borders said it was preparing a large-scale response to contain the 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,” said Trish Newport, the group’s emergency programme manager.
The outbreak is the 17th recorded Ebola epidemic in Congo, where authorities warned that extensive cross-border movement increased the risk of wider regional transmission.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak posed a high risk of spread across the region.