Warnings of Ebola virus mutation... Africa escalates emergency measures
The outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is escalating alarmingly, with warnings of potential new viral mutations and confirmed cases surpassing 4,000. This has prompted health authorities to tighten emergency measures and shift to active case-finding, conducting door-to-door searches for infected individuals.
Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), stated that authorities, in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), will conduct studies to verify the possibility of viral mutations, emphasizing that the severity of the current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain is unprecedented.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo declared its first outbreak cases on May 15, although estimates suggest the virus began spreading as early as January of last year. By August 4, the country had recorded 3,973 cases and 1,801 deaths, before the total number of infections crossed the 4,000 threshold, making the current outbreak the second-largest Ebola wave in history.
Kaseya explained that more than two-thirds of the deaths occurred within local communities, and that most patients arriving at health facilities were not on contact tracing lists. This reflects widespread transmission outside the scope of surveillance, while contact tracing efforts remain below the required level.
These developments have prompted authorities to move from a contact-tracing strategy to active case-finding, with health teams visiting homes to identify individuals showing symptoms of infection.
Authorities also plan to adopt the use of the drug Remdesivir for treating patients on a humanitarian-use basis, alongside studying the use of the Ervebo vaccine. Preliminary data showed that vaccinated individuals experienced milder symptoms and no deaths were recorded among them.
The outbreak has spread from Ituri Province to North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo. Meanwhile, authorities are investigating a suspected Ebola-related death on a boat heading to the capital, Kinshasa, with all passengers placed under quarantine and subjected to necessary tests.
For its part, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the outbreak is beginning to affect basic health services, noting a decline in childhood measles vaccination rates in some areas due to fear of infection and disruptions in health services.
