Ebola Outbreak In The DRC And Uganda: WHO Declares Public Health Emergency

The World Health Organization has classified the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern, after authorities linked 80 deaths to the disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus and warned that neighbouring countries with shared borders face a high risk of further spread.

As of Saturday, the WHO said the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province had reported 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed infections and 246 suspected cases across at least three health zones, namely Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu, while Uganda recorded two apparently unrelated confirmed cases in Kampala, including one death, involving travellers arriving from the DRC.

Ebola outbreak and international spread risk

The DRC health ministry had already said on Friday that 80 people had died in the new eastern outbreak, which is the country’s 17th since Ebola was first detected there in 1976, and the WHO warned that the scale could be much larger because early samples showed a high positivity rate and officials continue to log a rising number of suspected cases.

The WHO described the situation as "extraordinary" because there are currently no approved Bundibugyo virus-specific drugs or vaccines available, unlike for Ebola-Zaire strains that caused almost all previous outbreaks in the DRC, and the agency noted that the present DRC-Uganda Ebola outbreak carries a public health risk for other nations, with some instances of international spread already confirmed.

Ebola outbreak numbers by location and responses

The U.N. health agency said some countries should activate national disaster and emergency-management systems, introduce cross-border checks and carry out screening on major internal roads, while also advising that confirmed Bundibugyo cases be placed in isolation at once, with contacts followed daily, national movement restricted, and no international travel allowed for those contacts until 21 days after exposure.

Data released by authorities and health agencies during the Ebola outbreak can be summarised as follows.

Ebola outbreak and United States response

CBS News, citing unnamed sources inside international aid organisations, reported that at least six Americans in the DRC had been exposed to Ebola, with three of those exposures assessed as high risk, while STAT News said that one American might have developed symptoms and that the United States government was seeking to fly the group out, possibly to a military base in Germany, although Reuters could not immediately confirm these accounts.

Satish Pillai, Ebola response incident manager at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declined during a Sunday briefing to confirm whether any Americans were infected, but stressed to reporters that the current risk to the United States remained low, while CDC officials said the agency had activated its emergency response centre for the outbreak and would send additional staff to its offices in the DRC and Uganda.

The U.S. Embassy in the DRC issued a health alert on Sunday reminding American citizens that the State Department already advises against travel to Ituri province, warning that the U.S. government ​is "extremely limited in its ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens" there, and adding the clear instruction: "Do not travel to this area for any reason," as the embassy highlighted the security and health challenges.

The WHO said that anyone who has had contact with Bundibugyo virus cases should not travel internationally unless being moved for medical evacuation, yet the agency also urged governments not to close borders or impose wider trade or travel bans based on fear, warning that harsh restrictions might encourage unmonitored informal crossings, while Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director general Jean Kaseya said in a statement that technical guidance and recommendations had been requested on whether to declare a public health emergency of continental security.

The DRC’s dense tropical forests are considered a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, often proves fatal and causes fever, body pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, spreading through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people, contaminated items or the bodies of those who have died, as officials in the DRC, Uganda and beyond work under WHO guidance to contain the current Ebola outbreak.