The United Nations refugee agency has confirmed that two people have died from Ebola at a displacement camp in eastern Congo, raising alarm among aid workers about the potential for rapid disease transmission in overcrowded refugee facilities.
Both victims were displaced individuals residing at the Kpangba camp, which provides shelter for 30,000 refugees, according to a UNHCR report released Thursday.
Since the World Health Organization designated this outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, the virus has now reached three provinces.
The affected provinces — Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu — have endured decades of warfare and currently shelter more than 5 million displaced individuals.
A relief worker informed Reuters that the fatalities involved a mother and her daughter, who passed away on May 31 and June 1 respectively. The World Health Organisation conducted Ebola testing on both victims following their deaths.
“It’s a highly populated area so the risks of transmission are obviously higher and worrying,” the source said. “These are tents with tarp walls, where do you isolate if you have symptoms?”
Relief organizations describe overcrowded camp environments with inadequate sanitation infrastructure, where hundreds of individuals may share a single toilet facility and open defecation occurs.
“We are all really worried that Ebola in these camps will spread extremely quickly and that there will be panic and people will flee all over whether or not they’re contacts, whether or not they’re ill,” Caitlin Brady, interim country director for the Danish Refugee Council in Congo, told Reuters.
By Friday, Congo had documented 676 confirmed cases and 136 fatalities in this outbreak, which has also reached neighboring Uganda, where authorities have reported 19 cases.
This outbreak involves the uncommon Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no approved treatment or vaccination currently exists.
The illness remained undetected for several weeks, and emergency responders acknowledge they are working to catch up with the situation.
