Health experts in Congo scramble to contain deadly Ebola outbreak

Health workers are rushing to stop the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 14th Ebola outbreak in a remote corner of the vast nation before it gets out of control.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak over the weekend after a 31-year-old man died of the hemorrhagic fever in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province.

The man had reportedly been vaccinated against Ebola back in 2020 and is not known to have had the disease before.

The UN's health agency said that the man had been experiencing symptoms for more than two weeks before he died but was getting treatment at home.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected individual, or someone who has recently died from the virus. 

Because he was not isolated for most of his illness he could have easily spread it to others. So far, the DRC is thought to have identified at least 74 contacts of the man, but there could be many more. 

There is a two-week dormancy period of Ebola before victims tend to develop symptoms, and medics will be keeping a close eye on confirmed contacts for any sign of new infections.

“Time is not on our side,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “The disease has had a two-week head start and we are now playing catch-up. 

“The positive news is that health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world at controlling Ebola outbreaks quickly.”

Ebola can jump to humans from animals via the consumption of infected bushmeat, but there is also mounting evidence that the virus can lie dormant among those who have recovered. 

Recent research found a male survivor was emitting fragments of Ebola viruses in his semen more than 550 days after he was infected.

However, genetic research by the University of Kinshasa suggests that the new infection is not related to any other outbreak and constitutes “a new spillover event.”

Congo has suffered more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks since the disease was first identified in 1976.

Equateur Province faced similar outbreaks in 2018 and in 2020, also in and around the Mbandaka area. Both were brought under control quickly by seasoned Congolese health workers, with newly developed Ebola vaccines being distributed en masse.

While health workers say the Equateur Province is incredibly remote and hard to supply, the dangers from armed gangs and militias are lower than elsewhere in the country, making it easier to operate.

The WHO also said that – due to previous outbreaks – many people in Mbandaka are already vaccinated against Ebola, “which should help reduce the impact of the disease”.

About 1,200 miles away, in the far east of the country in Nord Kivu Province, efforts to contain previous outbreaks have been complicated because of a myriad of armed groups, including jihadists allied to the Islamic State. From 2018 to 2020, the disease ripped through the country’s east, killing more than 2,200 people.

Catherine Savoy, the ICRC’s health coordinator for DR Congo, told the Telegraph that because of renewed violence around the city of Beni in Nord Kivu Province, there could be a resurgence of Ebola as health care workers could not access the area to vaccinate people easily.

“We had a resurgence last year, and I think we will have another one. It’s not if but when,” Ms Savoy said.

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