Far to the west of where it first took hold, the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has now been found in Sud-Ubangi, a northwestern Congolese province that borders the Central African Republic. The discovery, confirmed by the national research institute and announced by the provincial governor, marks the first time the outbreak has crossed into western Congo, and it arrives as the toll climbs past seven thousand cases and more than three thousand deaths. Whether this is a lone thread or the beginning of a longer path of transmission remains an open question, and the answer will shape how a region alr
Ebola Outbreak in Congo Spreads to Seventh Province, Reaching Western Congo for First Time
As of Wednesday, 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths have been reported, with the outbreak fueled by insecurity, displacement and a health workers' strike.
Far to the west of where it first took hold, the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has now been found in Sud-Ubangi, a northwestern Congolese province that borders the Central African Republic. The discovery, confirmed by the national research institute and announced by the provincial governor, marks the first time the outbreak has crossed into western Congo, and it arrives as the toll climbs past seven thousand cases and more than three thousand deaths. Whether this is a lone thread or the beginning of a longer path of transmission remains an open question, and the answer will shape how a region already strained by conflict and displacement meets a disease that is outpacing the tools designed to contain it.
On Thursday, the governor of Sud-Ubangi, Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, announced what Congo had been bracing for: Bundibugyo virus, the rare form of Ebola behind the current outbreak, had been found in a laboratory sample from his province. The sample came from the Bulu health district, and no source of infection has yet been identified. It is the first detection in western Congo, a long step from the eastern provinces where the outbreak has been concentrated.
Sud-Ubangi borders the Central African Republic and touches none of the six eastern provinces already affected. A case in Kinshasa in May, linked to travel from the east, did not make the capital an affected province. The national totals are already staggering, with 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths as of Wednesday. WHO has said the outbreak remains out of control and is on course to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic.
The response faces hard conditions. Cases have fallen in Ituri, the epicenter, but risen sharply in North Kivu and Haut-Uele. Insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and constant movement of people complicate every effort, and displacement sites, where people already live precariously, are a particular concern. WHO has warned of possible spread into the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Congo began vaccinating front-line workers last month with Ervebo, which was built for the Zaire strain rather than Bundibugyo, while trials for a strain-specific vaccine proceed in Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele. Vaccinations in Ituri are set to begin next week. The coming days will show whether Sud-Ubangi is an isolated case or the start of a western chain of transmission.
On Thursday, the governor of Sud-Ubangi province in northwestern Congo, Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, put out a statement with news the country had been dreading: laboratory tests by Congo's national research institute had found Bundibugyo virus in a sample from his province. Bundibugyo is the rare form of Ebola behind the current outbreak. Local media outlets reported the statement on Friday.
The sample came from the Bulu health district. The statement gave no further information about the source of the infection. That makes Sud-Ubangi the seventh province affected by the outbreak and the first in western Congo, a significant step west from the east, where the outbreak had been concentrated.
The province sits on the border with the Central African Republic. It does not border any of the six eastern provinces where confirmed cases had already been reported: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo and Bas-Uele. A case was detected in Kinshasa in May, in a person who had traveled from eastern Congo, but the capital was never classified as an affected province.
The scale is already large. As of Wednesday, government figures showed 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths. The outbreak is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, and the World Health Organization has said it remains out of control. WHO says it is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The geography of the outbreak is shifting. In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have fallen in Ituri, the epicenter, but they have risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele. Conditions are making the response harder: insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and intense movement of people. The situation is especially worrying at displacement sites, where residents already live in extremely precarious conditions.
Borders are a concern as well. Last month, WHO warned the outbreak could spread from Congo into the Central African Republic and South Sudan, both of which border affected provinces. Uganda, by contrast, reported 20 cases since May and declared itself free of Ebola in July.
On vaccines, Congo began vaccinating health workers and other front-line workers last month with Ervebo, which worked in past outbreaks caused by the more common Zaire type of Ebola. It was not developed for Bundibugyo, and clinical trials are underway to find a licensed vaccine for this strain. Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC's director for research, clinical trials and innovation, said Thursday that the vaccination trials began in Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele provinces. Vaccinations in Ituri are set to start next week.
What to watch now is whether the Sud-Ubangi finding turns out to be an isolated detection or the start of a western chain of transmission, whether the virus crosses into the Central African Republic or South Sudan, and whether the Ituri vaccinations begin on schedule next week.
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