New Ebola outbreak confirmed in remote Congo province, with 65 deaths recorded

KINSHASA, Congo, May 16, (AP): Africa’s top public health body on Friday confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s remote Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far. Neighboring Uganda later confirmed one death in an Ebola case it said was imported from Congo. The deaths and suspected cases have been recorded mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, the Africa Centres for Disease Control ​and Prevention said in a statement.

The agency said 65 deaths have been attributed to the outbreak and that four of those have so far been confirmed in a laboratory. Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal. Scientists were trying to determine exactly what virus was driving the current outbreak in Congo.

The Ebola virus - also known as the Ebola Zaire strain - has been prominent in Congo’s past outbreaks. Results so far suggest some variant other than the Ebola Zaire strain, with sequencing continuing to give more clarity, the Africa CDC said. The World Health Organization says the Ebola disease is caused by a group of viruses, and that three of them are known to cause large outbreaks: Ebola virus, Sudan virus and Bundibugyo virus.

Uganda on Friday reported one Ebola case involving a Congolese man admitted to a hospital in Kampala three days before he died. Officials said the case was "imported” from Congo, and that Uganda has not yet confirmed any local cases. Uganda’s Health Ministry said the patient was tested posthumously on Friday after neighboring Congo confirmed its Ebola outbreak.

All contacts linked to the man have been quarantined, the agency said. The deceased’s body has been taken back to Congo. The ministry said the person was infected with the Bundibugyo virus, a variant of the illness that has been endemic in Uganda. The WHO said last year that Congo has a stockpile of treatments and some 2,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine.

The Ervedo vaccine is effective against the Ebola Zaire strain - considered the most severe one - but not against the Sudan virus or Bundibugyo virus, according to health authorities. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization director-general, told reporters Friday that the WHO last week sent a team to help Congo investigate the outbreak and collect samples. While initial results did not confirm Ebola, a new analysis on Thursday did, he said.