In a town called Gwaka, in the northwest of Congo, a 23-year-old man died after a fever and vomiting of blood, and his death has become a quiet turning point in a larger epidemic. Tests confirmed the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, placing the disease in Sud-Ubangi, a province far to the west that had until now been untouched. The man's three weeks of travel, from the eastern provinces across the country, trace how a sickness moves along the same roads people walk to find work, safety, and family. Nationally, more than seven thousand cases and over three thousand deaths have been recorded, an
Ebola Spreads to Seventh Congolese Province, Reaching Western Congo for the First Time
A 23-year-old man died after a suspected Ebola infection in Sud-Ubangi, and thousands of cases and over 3,398 deaths have been reported nationwide.
The outbreak has jumped, not crept.
Mark
Why does one death in Sud-Ubangi matter so much when there are already thousands of cases?
Mimi
Because of where it is. It's the first affected province in the west, and it doesn't border any of the six eastern ones. The outbreak has jumped, not crept.
Mark
How did the virus get there?
Mimi
According to Jean-Jacques Mbungani, the 23-year-old traveled for about three weeks. He went from South Kivu to Rwanda and Uganda, then Ituri, then across the country through Tshopo and Mongala.
Luke
That route comes from one lawmaker's account, though. The governor's statement confirmed the virus in a sample from the Bulu health district and gave nothing on how the man was infected.
Mark
So the travel history isn't officially established?
Luke
Not in what's been published. It's attributed to Mbungani, a former health minister, and it's plausible, but I'd hold it as his account. Also, the governor cites Bulu while Mbungani names Gwaka, and the reporting doesn't reconcile the two.
Mimi
What's firm is the test result and the national numbers: 7,022 cases and 3,398 deaths as of Thursday.
Mark
And the fear of regional spread?
Luke
That's a worry from Mbungani and an earlier WHO warning about the Central African Republic and South Sudan. No spread there has been reported. Uganda declared itself Ebola-free in July.
Mimi
Meanwhile, vaccine trials for Bundibugyo are only starting, and the Ervebo shot targets a different type of the virus.
The Pulse
- A young man's death in a remote town has pushed the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak into a western province for the first time.
- Sud-Ubangi's confirmation signals that the virus has traveled across the country, raising alarm in neighboring Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic.
- Health workers are battling the disease amid insecurity, displacement camps, and a strike that has slowed care and tracing.
- Vaccine trials are underway in several provinces, with Ervebo already used on front-line workers, but no licensed Bundibugyo vaccine yet exists and the outbreak remains beyond control.
In a town called Gwaka, in the northwest of Congo, a 23-year-old man died after a fever and vomiting of blood, and his death has become a quiet turning point in a larger epidemic. Tests confirmed the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, placing the disease in Sud-Ubangi, a province far to the west that had until now been untouched. The man's three weeks of travel, from the eastern provinces across the country, trace how a sickness moves along the same roads people walk to find work, safety, and family. Nationally, more than seven thousand cases and over three thousand deaths have been recorded, and the world's health authorities now fear this outbreak may rival the deadliest Ebola epidemic in history.
A 23-year-old man died on Tuesday in Gwaka, a town in Sud-Ubangi province in northwestern Congo. He had been seen by local doctors with a fever and was vomiting blood. Samples sent to the national research institute came back on Thursday with traces of the Bundibugyo virus, the rare form of Ebola behind the present outbreak. His death made him the marker of a new stage in the epidemic.
Local lawmaker and former health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani described the man's journey. Over about three weeks he had left South Kivu, passed through Rwanda and Uganda, reached Ituri, the outbreak's epicenter, and then crossed the country from northeast to northwest through Tshopo, Mongala and Sud-Ubangi. Sud-Ubangi is now the seventh affected province and the first in the west, a region that does not border any of the eastern provinces already hit. Mbungani said his own province borders Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, and residents there fear the virus will reach them.
As of Thursday, Congo had recorded 7,022 cases and 3,398 deaths. The World Health Organization calls it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record and says it is out of control. Cases have fallen in Ituri but surged in North Kivu and Haut-Uele, where aid work is hampered by insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and constant movement of people.
Vaccination of front-line workers with Ervebo began last month, and trials for a Bundibugyo vaccine are under way in Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele, with vaccinations in Ituri expected next week. The coming weeks will show whether the virus takes hold in Sud-Ubangi and whether it crosses into neighboring countries.
A 23-year-old man died on Tuesday in Gwaka, a town in Sud-Ubangi province in northwestern Congo. Doctors and local authorities there had been alerted to a patient with a fever who was vomiting blood. After he died, samples were taken and sent to the country's national research institute. The result, announced Thursday, has made him the marker of a new stage in the outbreak.
According to the province's governor, Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, the institute found traces of the Bundibugyo virus, the rare form of Ebola behind the current outbreak. His statement, reported by local media on Friday, said the sample came from the Bulu health district. It gave no other details about how the person was infected.
More of the man's story came from Jean-Jacques Mbungani, a local lawmaker and former health minister, who posted about the case on X on Thursday and spoke to The Associated Press by phone on Friday. By his account, the man had spent about three weeks on the move. He left South Kivu province, where confirmed Ebola cases have been reported, then traveled to Rwanda and Uganda. From there he went to Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak. He then crossed the country from northeast to northwest, passing through Tshopo, Mongala and Sud-Ubangi.
Sud-Ubangi is now the seventh province affected, and the first in western Congo. It does not border any of the six eastern provinces where cases had already been confirmed: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo and Bas-Uele. A case turned up in Kinshasa in May, in a person who had come from the east, but the capital, more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from the epicenter, was never classified as an affected province.
Mbungani said the news worries him. His province borders Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, and he said people there fear the virus may spread regionally.
The national figures show the scale. As of Thursday, the government reported 7,022 cases and 3,398 deaths. The World Health Organization has called this the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record and says it remains out of control. It is on track, the agency says, to pass the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic, the deadliest ever, which killed more than 11,000 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The pattern inside Congo is shifting. In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have fallen in Ituri but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele. Aid efforts are working under severe conditions: insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and heavy movement of people. Displacement sites, where residents already live in precarious conditions, are of particular concern.
WHO warned last month that the outbreak could cross from Congo into the Central African Republic and South Sudan, which border affected provinces. Uganda, which reported 20 cases since May, declared itself free of Ebola in July.
On the vaccine front, Congo began vaccinating health and other front-line workers last month with Ervebo, which worked in past outbreaks caused by the more common Zaire type of the virus. Clinical trials are under way to find a licensed vaccine for Bundibugyo. Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC's director for research, clinical trials and innovation, said Thursday that the trials began in Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele, with vaccinations in Ituri set to start next week. The next things to watch are whether more cases appear in Sud-Ubangi and whether the virus crosses a border.
Notable Quotes
It worries me. Our province borders Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic. We fear it may spread regionally.— Jean-Jacques Mbungani, local lawmaker and former health minister
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