The World Health Organization has raised fresh fears over a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, warning that the deadly virus strain behind the epidemic currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Speaking during an emergency press conference on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak had become a major regional threat, forcing the organisation to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
According to Tedros, the outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which no licensed vaccines or therapeutics currently exist.
“And fifth, this epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics,” he warned.
He said the absence of vaccines and treatment options has heightened concerns about the ability of health authorities to quickly contain the outbreak, especially as infections continue to spread across urban centres and among frontline health workers.
WHO said 51 confirmed Ebola cases have so far been recorded in the DRC’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces, including in the cities of Bunia and Goma. Uganda has also confirmed two infections in Kampala, including one death linked to travellers from the DRC. An American national who worked in the DRC also tested positive and has since been transferred to Germany for treatment.
However, health authorities warned that the actual scale of the outbreak may be far worse than confirmed figures indicate.
“Beyond the confirmed cases, there are almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths,” Tedros disclosed. “We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected.”
The WHO chief identified several factors driving fears of wider transmission, including rising urban spread, infections among health workers, mass displacement, and insecurity in eastern DRC.
WHO currently assesses the risk of the outbreak as high at both national and regional levels, although the global risk remains low for now.
Tedros said WHO took the unusual step of declaring the emergency before formally convening its Emergency Committee because of the urgent need for rapid international action. Emergency response teams, supplies, equipment, and funding have already been deployed to affected areas.
