Ebola spreads fast as WHO sounds global alarm

With the swift outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has now spread to neighbouring Uganda and is threatening South Sudan, it’s no surprise that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is alarmed over the “speed and scale” of the epidemic.

The outbreak has already killed more than 130 people in the DRC, prompting WHO to declare it a public health emergency of international concern – the second-highest international health regulations level of alert.

The epidemic follows hot on the heels of the outbreak of the rare hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship, where many scientists are still searching for answers to find the source of the disease.

Speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Ghebreyesus said: “I’m deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic. From conflicts to economic crises to climate change and aid cuts, we live in difficult, dangerous and divisive times.”

While there are vaccines available for the Zaire strain of Ebola, what’s scary is that there is no vaccine or therapeutic treatment for the Bundibugyo strain of the disease – a highly contagious haemorrhagic fever that in all its strains claimed more than 15 000 lives in Africa over the past 50 years.

Nearly 2 300 people lost their lives in the DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak between 2018 and 2020, after 3 500 reported cases.

It’s reported the Bundibugyo strain – responsible for outbreaks in Uganda in 2007 and in the DRC in 2012 – has a mortality rate of 30 to 50%.

Equally concerning is that WHO representative Anne Ancia, speaking from the DRC, warned it’s highly unlikely the Ebola outbreak will be over in two months, which is why they are looking at various vaccine candidate options, even if they take months to be available.

We are indeed living in difficult, dangerous and divisive times…