ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Aug. 17 that the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has passed 5,000 confirmed cases and more than 2,320 deaths, and called for immediate full-scale implementation of six response measures.
The agency said the case fatality ratio is approaching 50 percent, equivalent to roughly one death every 30 minutes.
Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak now spans six provinces
Six provinces are affected: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Tshopo. The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak began with eight confirmed cases reported on May 15. A linked outbreak in Uganda was declared over on July 28.
“When lives are being lost at this scale, our responsibility is to use the best available science, protect communities, generate the evidence that is still missing and act together,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said in the statement.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, quoted in the same statement, said: “Behind every number is a person, a family and a community living with fear and loss. These deaths are not inevitable.” He called for humanitarian ceasefires, the removal of unscientific travel restrictions, and faster African manufacturing of diagnostics and therapeutics.
Africa CDC said the licensed ERVEBO vaccine targets the Zaire strain of Ebola and that evidence of cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain remains limited. Its proposed approach pairs expanded use of the vaccine among frontline workers with a Phase III clinical trial.
The six measures also cover a community health worker led response, free essential health services, treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis, humanitarian assistance including safe school reopening, and end-to-end financial accountability. Africa CDC said they should now be applied at full scale across the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak zone, after a meeting with Congolese President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi on Aug. 5 and an Emergency Consultative Group meeting on Aug. 13.
Why it matters: An outbreak at this scale strains regional supply chains, travel and health financing well beyond the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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