Kinshasa/Brazzaville — The World Health Organization (WHO) is rapidly scaling up support to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following confirmation of an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo in the country’s north-eastern Ituri Province.
Laboratory analysis conducted by the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), the country’s reference laboratory in the capital Kinshasa, confirmed the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo species in 13 of 20 samples collected from suspected cases linked to a cluster of severe illness and deaths reported in Mongbwalu and Rwampara health zones in Ituri Province. The Bundibugyo species was first identified in 2007 in Bundibugyo district in western Uganda, during which 131 cases were reported with 42 deaths (case fatality rate of 32%).
In the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a total of 67 community deaths suspected to be due to Ebola Bundibugyo have been reported so far. Patients presented with symptoms including fever, generalized body pain, weakness, vomiting and, in some cases, bleeding. Several cases deteriorated rapidly and died. Given the uncertainties and severity of the illness, there is concern about the scale of transmission in affected communities.
A WHO mission including the WHO representative, the emergency preparedness and response team had already been deployed in Ituri