The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported a fresh Ebola outbreak this week. The new cluster has sparked fear among public health experts, as the African country is still contending with the world’s largest measles epidemic, as well as the coronavirus.
On Monday, June 1st the Ministry of Public Health reported six cases and four fatalities in the western city of Mbandaka; they then confirmed two more cases two days later. A report by UNICEF, which has an office in the area, also reported that Monday that a fifth person died from the virus.
The situation also complicates both local and international efforts to stem an Ebola epidemic on the eastern side of the country, an area considered to be among the most volatile regions on the continent. Less than two months ago, the epidemic – which had lasted nearly two years and caused over 2,275 deaths – was on its final stages. However, a new case set back the government’s plan to declare an official end to the epidemic.
It’s also unclear how the virus appeared in Mbandaka, a city of 1.2 million people about 750 miles west from the country’s eastern edge, especially since Congo has enforced travel restrictions to head off the spread of the coronavirus. Experts are looking at the possibility of a new instance of animal-to-human transmission, especially since the city had previously been the center of an outbreak in 2018.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person can get infected with Ebola by coming into contact with an infected animal, including fruit bats or monkeys. It can also spread through the handling of wild animal meat infected with Ebola.
“This is a reminder that COVID-19 is not the only health threat people face,” added Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ebola, which is short for Ebola virus disease, is a deadly disease that causes fever, bleeding, weakness and abdominal pain. While the average mortality rate of Ebola is around 50 percent, some outbreaks have had case fatality rates of up to 90 percent. The disease gets its name from the Ebola River, where it was first identified.
Congo has experienced many outbreaks of Ebola in recent years, and most have been resolved quickly. (Related: The “incubation period” lie about Ebola, and why America is vulnerable to an Ebola outbreak from infected migrants.)
To date, the largest known Ebola outbreak occurred in 2014, which killed over 11,000 people and affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in western Africa.
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