Ebola spreads in Congo
The geographical spread of the Bundibugyo outbreak is increasing, while the WHO warns that the available vaccine has not been proven to protect against this variant.
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The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading further. The World Health Organisation reports new areas of infection and thousands of confirmed cases, but the latest complete figures are still lagging behind developments on the ground.
This concerns the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus, a different strain from the one for which the best-known Ebola vaccine was originally developed. According to the WHO, the outbreak has now been identified in dozens of health zones across six Congolese provinces. The weekly update of 20 September again reported further expansion, including to the Dungu health zone in Haut-Uélé province.
The latest complete WHO count in the disease outbreak report runs to 7 September. At that point, a total of 6,778 confirmed infections had been reported in Congo, Uganda, Germany and France, with 3,269 deaths. In Congo itself, there were 6,757 confirmed cases and 3,267 deaths. The WHO stresses that part of the increase is connected to improved detection, laboratory testing and the processing of previously unreported data.
The outbreak has therefore grown not only because of new transmission. Registration has also improved, meaning that numbers can rise without every additional report representing a new infection from that day. At the same time, the WHO says there are indications of ongoing transmission in communities and geographical spread.
The health organisation assesses the risk in Congo as very high and the risk to neighbouring countries as high. For the rest of Africa and for the global situation, the assessment remains low. This difference mainly reflects the distance from the epicentre and the capacity for rapid detection, not the absence of a risk of cross-border spread.
Vaccination of healthcare workers and other frontline staff has begun. The WHO reports that 2,007 people had been vaccinated by 6 September. This comes with an important limitation: Ervebo is authorised against Ebola caused by the Zaire variant, but its efficacy against Bundibugyo in humans has not yet been established. The WHO therefore advises using the vaccine against this variant only within a research protocol.
The response is being hampered by insecurity, population displacement, limited access to healthcare and shortages of resources. The WHO advises against travel or trade restrictions, but calls for better border surveillance, rapid case recognition, testing, treatment and cooperation between the countries concerned. Once the next full situation assessment is available, the new figures should be updated quickly.
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The core facts were checked directly with the WHO and independently supplemented with AP. The text clearly distinguishes between the date of the figures and later reports of further spread.
- confirmed The outbreak concerns the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus. — The WHO refers to the outbreak as Bundibugyo virus disease. source
- confirmed By 7 September, 6,778 confirmed cases and 3,269 deaths had been reported worldwide. — These figures appear in the WHO Disease Outbreak News report. source
- confirmed By 6 September, 2,007 people had been vaccinated. — The WHO gives this figure in the section on vaccination. source
- confirmed The efficacy of Ervebo against Bundibugyo has not been established in humans. — The WHO says that efficacy against BVD is unknown and advises using it only within research. source
- confirmed The WHO assesses the risk in Congo as very high and the global risk as low. — This is stated in the WHO risk assessment. source
Editor's note
The severity and spread are well supported by the WHO and AP. The complete cumulative figures lag behind the reports of 20 September; a more recent total could not be confirmed in public sources.Sources
- Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus - Democratic Republic of the Congo — World Health Organization
- Ebola in the WHO African Region — WHO Regional Office for Africa
- Congo begins Ebola vaccinations for health workers in the epicenter of the outbreak — Associated Press
More on this in Dutch media
- NU.nl — „ebola congo”
- De Telegraaf — „ebola congo”
- AD — „ebola congo”