WHO warns Ebola outbreak risk in Congo is now ‘very high’
The WHO has raised the national risk level for the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in DR Congo to “very high”, with dozens of confirmed cases and hundreds more suspected.
The World Health Organization has raised its assessment of the risk posed by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo to “very high” at national level.
The strain, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO on Sunday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency had revised its risk assessment to very high nationally, high regionally and low globally.
So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in DR Congo, along with seven confirmed deaths. Authorities have also reported 177 suspected deaths and nearly 750 suspected cases.
Tedros said the situation in Uganda remained stable, with two confirmed cases among people who had travelled from DR Congo. One of those cases was fatal.
Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO director of health emergency alert and response operations, said the virus had a very high potential to spread quickly, changing the nature of the response.
Tedros said measures taken in Uganda, including intensive contact tracing and the cancellation of a mass gathering, appeared to have helped contain the spread.
A US national who had been working in DR Congo has tested positive for the virus and has been transferred to Germany for treatment.
Tedros added that the WHO was also aware of reports of another US national with a high-risk contact who had been transferred to the Czech Republic.
Experimental drug considered for contacts
WHO chief scientist Sylvie Briand said an antiviral treatment called obeldesivir could potentially be used among Ebola contacts to help prevent them from developing the disease.
Obeldesivir is an experimental oral Covid antiviral drug developed by Gilead Sciences.
Briand said the treatment appeared promising, but stressed that it would need to be used under a very strict protocol.
The WHO said there were early signs that surveillance efforts were working, as more cases were being detected. However, officials said response teams were still trying to catch up, as the outbreak probably began about two months ago but was only declared last Friday.
Anne Ancia, the WHO’s representative in DR Congo, said health officials were moving quickly to bring the outbreak under control, but warned that case numbers were likely to continue rising for some time while transmission continued.
Source: Reuters
