Congo reports 31 deaths in Ebola outbreak

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that 48 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 31 people have died.

• On September 4, the country declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Kasai Province where a cluster of cases and deaths had been reported. 

• Samples tested in the capital Kinshasa confirmed the cause of the illness and fatalities as Ebola Zaire caused by Ebola virus disease.  

• The outbreak has so far affected Bulape and Mweka health zones in Kasai Province, home to around 3.5 million people. 

• Vaccination of frontline health workers and contacts of people infected with Ebola virus disease has begun in Bulape health zone.

• The vaccine is being administered through ring vaccination strategy, which entails vaccinating individuals at highest risk of infection after having come into contact with a patient confirmed with the virus.

• Previous outbreaks in Kasai were reported in 2007 (Luebo) and 2008–2009 (Mweka).

• The ongoing outbreak is the 16th Ebola outbreak in the country since the disease was identified in 1976. 

• The country’s most recent outbreak occurred in 2022 in Beni in North Kivu Province.

Ebola virus disease

• Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates.

• The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.

• Ebola enters the body through cuts in the skin or when touching one’s eyes, nose or mouth.

• The symptoms of Ebola infection can be sudden and include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, and internal and external bleeding.

• The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50 per cent. Case fatality rates have varied from 25 per cent to 90 per cent in past outbreaks.

• EVD first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in what is now Nzara, South Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.

• The 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976.

• Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks.

• There is as yet no proven treatment available for EVD. Supportive care — rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids — and treatment of specific symptoms improves survival. However, a range of potential treatments including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies are currently being evaluated.

• There is an effective vaccine for the Zaire type of Ebola, which is mostly found in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is treated with antibodies. These antibody medicines are given intravenously and increase the chances of survival.