WHO Reports High Localized Ebola Risk, Minimal Global Threat

BUNIA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) assessed that while the Ebola virus poses a significant risk at national and regional levels in Congo and Uganda, its threat remains minimal on a global scale.

This assessment follows comments from the head of the WHO team in Congo, who indicated that the outbreak, responsible for an estimated 134 suspected fatalities, might persist for at least another two months. As a result, aid organizations are intensifying their efforts to control the situation.

In response, WHO has designated the Ebola outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, necessitating a unified global effort. On Tuesday, the organization highlighted its worries about the “scale and speed” with which the outbreak is progressing.

Residents, concerned about the virus, have reported increased prices for face masks and disinfectants. This outbreak involves a rare strain of Ebola known as the Bundibugyo virus, which went undetected for weeks after the initial death, as initial tests for more common strains returned negative results. Health experts and aid workers have noted that there are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus.

So far 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo’s northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, as well as two in Uganda, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. Beyond that, there are almost 600 suspected cases and suspected deaths, he said.

“We know that the scale of the epidemic is much larger,” he said. “We expect those numbers to keep increasing.”

Congo was expecting shipments from the United States and Britain of an experimental vaccine for different types of Ebola, developed by researchers at Oxford, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, a virus expert at the National Institute of Biomedical Research, told reporters on Tuesday.

“We will administer the vaccine and see who develops the disease,” he said.

Health experts said that the delayed detection of the virus, large movements of population in the affected areas, as well as the preexisting humanitarian crisis, complicated the response. Parts of eastern Congo are in the hands of armed rebels, hampering the delivery of aid.

Congo said the first person died from the virus on April 24 in Bunia, but the confirmation did not come for weeks. The body was repatriated to the Mongbwalu health zone, a mining area with a large population.

“That caused the Ebola outbreak to escalate,” said Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba.

Dr. Anne Ancia, the head of the WHO team in Congo, said authorities still haven’t identified “patient zero.” There was a long road ahead, she said, adding that cuts in funding had “a marked detrimental effect on humanitarian actors.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that the Trump administration would “lean into” Ebola response efforts with a priority on funding 50 emergency clinics in affected areas. The U.S. has so far contributed $13 million to the effort and Rubio said more would be coming.

In Bunia, the site of the first known death, schools and churches remained open on Wednesday, and some residents were wearing masks in the street. Residents said that masks have become harder to find and that some disinfectants previously sold for 2,500 Congolese francs now cost up to 10,000 francs ($4.4).

“It’s truly sad and painful because we’ve already been through a security crisis, and now Ebola is here too,” said Justin Ndasi, a resident of Bunia. “We have to protect ourselves to avoid this epidemic.”

Trish Newport, emergency program manager from Doctors Without Borders aid group said that her team in Bunia identified suspected cases over the weekend in the Salama hospital, where there is no isolation ward. They tried, unsuccessfully, to place them in another health facility in Bunia.

“The team called around to other health facilities to see if they had isolations,” she said. “Every health facility they called said, ‘We’re full of suspects cases. We don’t have any space.’ This gives you a vision of how crazy it is right now.”

In Mongbwalu, the town at the epicenter of the current outbreak, the border with Uganda remains open and gold mining activities continue, said Chérubin Kuku Ndilawa, a local civil society leader.

“There’s no panic; people are continuing their normal lives, but they’re also starting to spread the word,” said Ndilawa.

Efforts to contain the outbreak have been hindered by a lack of handwashing stations in public areas, said Ndilawa.

Dr. Didier Pay, a former director of the Mongbwalu General Hospital, said his clinic was treating around 30 Ebola patients. He said a student from the local medical technology institute had died on Wednesday morning.

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