Geneva, Switzerland. The World Health Organization said an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo linked to more than 130 deaths likely began about two months ago and is expected to continue to grow.
Detection gap and investigation
The outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine, was declared last Friday. WHO officials said the outbreak raised alarm because it went undetected while spreading across a densely populated area, complicating efforts to trace and isolate contacts of infected individuals.
The WHO had previously referred to “a critical four-week detection gap” between when the first known case began showing symptoms and laboratory confirmation of the outbreak.
“Investigations are ongoing to ascertain when and where exactly this outbreak started,” Anais Legand, WHO technical officer for viral threats, told reporters in Geneva. “Given the scale, we are thinking that it has started probably a couple of months ago.”
Case and death figures
Six hundred suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths have been recorded so far, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva. Fifty-one cases have been confirmed by laboratory testing in DRC, and two cases have also been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda.
Emergency status and risk assessment
Tedros said a WHO Emergency Committee met on Tuesday and confirmed the outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern but not a pandemic emergency.
Tedros said he declared the emergency at the weekend, the first time a WHO chief had taken that step without first consulting experts, citing the urgency of the situation.
“The WHO assess the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” Tedros said.
Bundibugyo strain and response options
The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has an average fatality rate of around 40%, according to WHO. WHO said there are no approved virus-specific therapeutics or vaccines for this strain, and testing capacity is limited.
WHO experts said two possible vaccines are under consideration for use in the outbreak but could take three to nine months to be developed.
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