Congo’s health minister revealed plans Sunday evening to establish three Ebola treatment facilities in the eastern Ituri region during a visit to the area affected by the current disease outbreak.
Samuel Roger Kamba, the health minister, spoke while in Bunia, Ituri’s capital and most populous city, stating: “We know that the hospitals are already under stress because of the patients. But we are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our capabilities.”
On Sunday, the World Health Organization issued a declaration naming the Ebola disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, following reports of more than 300 suspected cases and 88 fatalities in Congo, along with two deaths in Uganda. While the outbreak’s center is in Ituri, cases have emerged in the capital city Kinshasa and in Goma, eastern Congo’s largest urban area.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa posted on X Sunday that a 35-member expert team from the WHO and the Congolese Ministry of Health had reached Bunia, the Ituri province capital, bringing 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
The Ebola virus spreads easily through contact with bodily fluids including vomit, blood, or semen. While uncommon, the disease it produces is serious and frequently deadly.
The WHO’s emergency designation aims to mobilize donor organizations and nations to respond. According to WHO criteria, this classification indicates the situation is grave, poses international transmission risks, and demands coordinated global action.
Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke to Sky News on Sunday, saying: “Currently I’m on panic mode because people are dying, I don’t have medicines, I don’t have vaccine to support countries. Yesterday I called for a meeting of all partners, we have some candidate vaccine, some candidate medicine, we are pursuing this route. We hope that we can have something in the next coming weeks.”
Medical officials report the present outbreak, initially confirmed Friday, stems from the Bundibugyo virus, an uncommon Ebola strain lacking approved treatments or vaccines. Despite more than 20 Ebola outbreaks occurring in Congo and Uganda, the Bundibugyo virus has been identified only twice before.
The Bundibugyo virus initially appeared in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak affecting 149 individuals and causing 37 deaths. Its second occurrence was in 2012 during an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, resulting in 57 cases and 29 fatalities.
