D.R. Congo’s Ebola outbreak is now an international concern

The World Health Organization has declared the current Ebola outbreak in eastern D.R. Congo a public health emergency of international concern.

The declaration on Wednesday comes amid reports of new cases, raising fears that the outbreak, which has been mostly confined to North Kivu province, could spread into neighboring nations.

“It is time for the world to take notice and redouble our efforts. We need to work together in solidarity with the DRC to end this outbreak and build a better health system. Extraordinary work has been done for almost a year under the most difficult circumstances. We all owe it to these responders — coming from not just WHO but also government, partners and communities — to shoulder more of the burden,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General.

The declaration comes while the WHO grapples with a shortage of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, which is being used to vaccinate susceptible populations to break the transmission chain.

As of Wednesday, most of the cases were limited to Butembo, Beni and Mabalako; Beni alone accounted for 46% of new cases in the past 3 weeks.

However, just this Monday, a new case was reported in Goma, a city of more than a million on the border with Rwanda. The man, a pastor, had travelled to Butembo, where he interacted with members of the local congregation. He took a public bus back to Goma, where he was diagnosed with Ebola. He passed away as he was being ferried to the Ebola treatment centre in Butembo.

Another case was also reported on Wednesday. This case was in Mpondwe, a border town in Uganda, where a Congolese fisherwoman came to trade.

The outbreak has so far claimed more than 1,600 lives.