Rare Ebola outbreak poses low risk globally but worries mount about its spread in Congo

WHO has declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, requiring a coordinated response, and expressed concern over its “scale and speed."

Worried residents in eastern Congo, a region long under threat from armed groups, have reported rising prices for face masks and disinfectants.

The rare type of Ebola, known as the Bundibugyo virus, spread undetected for weeks following the first known death while authorities tested for another, more common Ebola virus, which came up negative, health experts and aid workers have said.

So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo's northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, as well as two cases in Uganda, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. Beyond that, there are 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases.

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

‘We’re full of suspect cases’

In Bunia, the site of the first known death, schools and churches remained open on Wednesday, and some residents were wearing masks. Residents said masks have become harder to find and some disinfectants previously sold for 2,500 Congolese francs (about $1) now cost up to 10,000 francs (over $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 Bunia resident.

Trish Newport, emergency program manager at aid group Doctors Without Borders, said on social media her team in Bunia identified suspected cases over the weekend at the Salama hospital, which has no isolation ward.

“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 suspect cases. We don’t have any space.’ This gives you a vision of how crazy it is right now.”

'We have no protection'

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

“There’s no panic. People continue with their normal lives, but they’re also starting to spread the word,” said Ndilawa, adding that controlling the outbreak has been hindered by a lack of public handwashing stations.

“We hope for the proper triage and isolation facilities to be installed today, and if that doesn’t happen, we will be completely overwhelmed,” Dr. Richard Lokudu, medical director of Mongbwalu General Hospital, told the AP.

“The challenge is that the staff are not trained to handle suspected cases. We are also understaffed. The hospital has its current staff, yes, but if the cases are confirmed, the hospital is truly at risk given the large number that could arrive. We have no protection.”

Dr. Didier Pay, a doctor at Mongbwalu General Hospital, said the clinic was treating around 30 Ebola patients and a student from the local medical technology institute died on Wednesday morning.

An American with Ebola is in isolation in Germany

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.

Meanwhile, a U.S. national who tested positive for the virus in Congo arrived in Berlin on Wednesday for treatment in a special isolation ward.

A “comprehensive examination” was taking place to determine how to proceed with treatment, German Health Ministry spokesperson Martin Elsässer said. He said he wouldn’t comment on the patient’s condition. The German authorities and the U.S. CDC have not identified the patient.

Separately, Christian aid organization Serge said one of its doctors — which it identified as American medical missionary Dr. Peter Stafford — had been evacuated from Congo “and is receiving specialized medical treatment” after he developed Ebola symptoms.

The US says it will ‘lean into’ its response

Health experts said the delayed detection of the virus and large population movements in affected areas, which already faced a humanitarian crisis, complicate the response.

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,” Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba has said.

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 contributed $13 million to the effort and Rubio said more would come.

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

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