Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is preparing to rapidly scale up its medical response to an Ebola outbreak in Ituri province, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following the official declaration of the outbreak by the country’s Ministry of Health on May 15. The World Health Organization has declared the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern, according to a press release by MSF. The outbreak has been caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. Congolese authorities have reported 246 suspected cases and more than 80 deaths across three health zones. MSF is mobilizing teams and supplies to launch a large-scale response as quickly as possible.
On May 9 and 10, MSF received alerts of an increased number of deaths from a suspected viral hemorrhagic fever in Mongwalu health zone, northwest of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province. A joint team with the Ministry of Health assessed the situation and found that 55 people had died since the beginning of April. Subsequent reports indicated that cases had also been identified in Bunia and Rwampara health zones. This is the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the first case was discovered in 1976. It is also the third detected outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, following outbreaks in Uganda in 2007-2008 and in DRC in 2012.
The Bundibugyo strain is distinct from the more common Zaire strain because there is no approved vaccine and no approved treatment available. The estimated case fatality rate of the Bundibugyo strain is between 25 and 40 percent. Ebola is an infectious viral hemorrhagic fever transmitted to humans through direct contact with blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected animals. Human-to-human transmission occurs through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people. On May 15, health authorities in neighboring Uganda confirmed one case of the Ebola Bundibugyo virus in a 59-year-old Congolese man who died on May 14.
MSF currently has teams in the affected areas of Ituri to assess medical needs and is coordinating closely with the Congolese health authorities. At MSF’s Salama clinic in Bunia, three suspected cases have been isolated. The organization is mobilizing additional medical, logistical, and support staff experienced in responding to viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, along with essential supplies.
“The number of cases and deaths we are seeing in such a short timeframe, combined with the spread across several health zones and now across the border, is extremely concerning,” said Trish Newport, MSF emergency program manager. “In Ituri, many people already struggle to access health care and live with ongoing insecurity, making rapid action critical to prevent the outbreak from escalating further.”
MSF has also informed the Ugandan Ministry of Health that it is ready to support the public health authorities’ response. The organization will work to ensure strict prevention measures are in place across its existing projects to protect staff, patients, and continued access to health care. MSF has responded to multiple Ebola outbreaks in DRC over the past years. The current scale-up aims to contain transmission across the affected health zones and beyond the border. Coordination with national authorities remains central to the ongoing response.
