WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak. This rare variant has no approved treatments

Bengaluru: The World Health Organisation has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 87 deaths.

The WHO said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus – a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines – did not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency such as COVID-19. But countries sharing land borders with the DRC were at high risk for further spread.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.

Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in the DRC and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported.

Officials first reported the spread of the disease in the DRC’s eastern province of Ituri, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.

There could potentially be a larger outbreak than what was detected and reported so far, the WHO said, given the high positive rate in initial samples and the increasing reports of suspected cases.

The outbreak was “extraordinary” as there were no approved Bundibugyo virus-specific therapeutics or vaccines, unlike for Zaire strain of the virus, it said.

The DRC-Uganda outbreak posed a public health risk to other countries, with some international spread already documented. The agency advised countries to activate national disaster and emergency-management mechanisms and start cross-border screening and screening at main internal roads.

In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed cases, including one death, were reported on Friday and Saturday, from people travelling from the DRC, the WHO said, and another laboratory-confirmed case reported in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, was from a person returning from Ituri.

The WHO advised that Bundibugyo virus-disease contacts or cases should not travel, unless as part of a medical evacuation. Confirmed cases should be isolated, with daily monitoring and no international travel until 21 days after exposure.

At the same time, the WHO urged countries not to close their borders or restrict travel and trade out of fear, as this could lead to people and goods making informal border crossings that were not monitored.

WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.

In 2024, when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in the DRC and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.

Reuters, AP

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