DR Congo Health Minister Confronts Ebola Resurgence in Ituri, North Kivu Provinces
Congolese Health Minister Dr Samuel Roger Kamba has acknowledged that health teams are playing catch-up with an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The virus, potentially circulating undetected before its official detection on 24 April, has resulted in 514 suspected cases and 136 presumed deaths.
The presumed patient zero was a nurse who died in Bunia, Ituri province, with most suspected cases and deaths concentrated in the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara. Residents in Rwampara express profound fear, with one taxi rider stating, “Ebola has tortured us. I am scared because people are dying very fast… We are really afraid.”
Bundibugyo Strain Poses Diagnostic Challenges
This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, less familiar in DR Congo than the Zaïre species. Dr Kamba noted that Bundibugyo can exhibit fewer obvious symptoms, delaying diagnosis as individuals mistake it for other ailments like malaria. This diagnostic lag is believed to have facilitated the silent spread of the virus, particularly as formal community alerts were only registered from 8 May.
International charity Save the Children highlighted that the Bundibugyo strain had not previously been seen in Ituri, with limited local testing capacities focused on the Zaïre strain. Greg Ramm, the charity's DR Congo representative, stated, “By the time the Bundibugyo strain was detected, it had already spread quite far. We are in a game of catch-up.”
Urban Spread and Conflict Impede Response
The virus has now reached large urban centres such as Bunia, Butembo, and rebel-controlled Goma in North Kivu province, where hundreds of thousands reside. None of these cities possesses a fully operational Ebola treatment centre, five days after the outbreak’s declaration. Public health measures, such as avoiding handshakes and regular handwashing, are widely ignored in Goma, eastern DR Congo’s largest city.
The ongoing conflict in eastern DR Congo exacerbates the crisis. Save the Children described the Ebola outbreak as “a new massive crisis on top of an already difficult situation,” noting that it affects an area with hundreds of thousands displaced and severely compromised healthcare systems. The US has pledged $13 million in emergency assistance to DR Congo and Uganda, while the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday.
