Health experts have cautioned that the Ebola outbreak that is spreading in many African nations is “likely far worse” than official data suggest.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC), a humanitarian organization with headquarters in New York, issued a warning on Monday that response efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the site of a current Ebola outbreak, are having difficulty because of low contact tracing rates and delayed detection.
The DRC’s Ministry of Health reports that over 1,000 suspected cases and over 200 suspected deaths have been linked to the outbreak, which is caused by the uncommon and incurable Bundibugyo strain. Of them, 42 deaths and 282 cases have been verified.
Additionally, an increasing number of cases have been found in South Sudan and adjacent Uganda, and patients are being monitored in Brazil and Italy. After testing positive for the virus, an American was sent to Germany for treatment.
Up to 50% of infected people die from the variation, for which there are currently no vaccinations or therapies.
Although the IRC believes the disease may have been spreading covertly since before March and possibly as long as three months prior to the epidemic’s declaration in mid-May, the first Ebola cases in the current outbreak were verified in late April.
Only approximately 20% of interactions are now being traced, according to Rachel Howard, senior technical emergency health advisor at the IRC. This indicates that health officials are having difficulty identifying new sources of transmission.
According to the IRC, infections can spread to Burundi and other DRC neighbors.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Ebola outbreak is “likely far worse” than current estimates, officials have cautioned. Doctors from Doctors Without Borders are shown above tending to a patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“IRC teams warn that shortages of diagnostic cartridges and testing backlogs are slowing confirmation of cases, further obscuring the true spread of the outbreak,” Howard said in a statement. “Your browser does not support iframes.”
She points out that many locals are avoiding medical institutions and that at least six healthcare professionals have died recently, including two doctors. This gives rise to concerns that Ebola patients are staying in susceptible areas instead of getting treatment.
“As a result, communities are losing faith in the response, and transmission is spreading across multiple areas,” she stated. To stop the outbreak at its root, strengthening local, community-based prevention and infection control should be the top focus right now.
“The situation could rapidly deteriorate without urgent funding.”
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Washington Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, DC, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston are the four airports where Americans arriving from the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan must reroute their travel in order to arrive for enhanced screening as the outbreak intensifies.
The White House’s plan to isolate Americans exposed to Ebola in Kenya was rejected last week by Kenyan health officials, who said the measures could not proceed until petitions opposing them were heard. Tuesday is the day of the hearings.
It is unclear how many Americans are in South Sudan and Uganda, although estimates place the number in the DRC at up to 5,000.
At the Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, Ituri province, DRC, medical personnel are seen donning protective gear (file photo).
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American medical missionary Dr. Peter Stafford was airlifted to Charité Hospital in Germany after contracting the Bundibugyo virus while serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Health experts stated that Stafford is fragile but not critically ill during a press briefing last week. According to officials, he has not experienced organ failure or needed critical care, and antiviral drugs are lowering his virus numbers.
Stafford can only view his family through a window while receiving treatment in a completely segregated unit. The family is being quarantined in a different area of the unit, according to the officials, but his wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, has tested negative for Ebola and is still symptom-free.
Americans are advised to “reconsider nonessential travel” to the DRC’s Ituri, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu provinces by the CDC’s level 3 travel advice.
Contact with an infected person’s blood or bodily fluids, contaminated objects, or infected animals like bats or primates can all spread Ebola.
Outside the Ebola Treatment Center in Munigi, a child from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is seen looking at awareness graphics after returning from school.
In Rwampara, outside Bunia, Ituri province, DRC, medical personnel from the International Medical Action (ALIMA) are seen donning protective gear (file photo).
According to agency authorities, Americans should think about purchasing travel insurance if their trip is really necessary. Additionally, they should stay away from blood or other bodily fluids, contaminated objects, and anyone exhibiting Ebola symptoms.
Additionally, visitors should stay away from bats, primates, forest antelopes, and their blood, secretions, or meat.
For 21 days following their departure from the DRC, travelers are advised by the CDC to keep an eye out for signs of Ebola.
For South Sudan and Uganda, the organization has issued a level 2 travel advice that advises visitors to “practice enhanced precautions.”
The DRC has had Ebola since 1976, and the most recent outbreak is the 17th in the nation’s history.
More than 1,000 individuals perished in earlier outbreaks in eastern Congo in 2018 and 2020. Over 28,600 cases of Ebola were reported during the worst outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that although the present outbreak does not fit the definition of a pandemic emergency, nations like Rwanda and Uganda that share borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo are more vulnerable to its spread.
An Ebola patient is being carried by medical personnel in a DRC hospital.
A doctor from Doctors Without Borders is observed in the DRC during the contamination process.
Fever, headache, weakness and discomfort in the muscles, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and unexplained bleeding or bruises are all signs of Ebola.
Without treatment, the virus has a death rate of up to 90% and can cause major illness.
The Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola for which there are no recognized therapies or vaccinations, is the cause of the current outbreak. Only two earlier outbreaks, in 2007 and 2012, have been linked to the strain.
The Bundibugyo virus has a 25–50% fatality rate.
The most prevalent type of Ebola, the Zaire strain, can be treated with the medications Inmazeb and Ebanga as well as the Ervebo vaccine, which is only given during outbreaks.
According to a statement from Amanda Rojek, Associate Professor of Health Emergencies at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute, “unfortunately, Bundibugyo has fewer proven countermeasures than Zaire ebolavirus, where vaccines have been highly effective in controlling outbreaks.”
