Ebola outbreak on ‘epidemiological knife edge’

A DEADLY Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has a clear “potential to expand,” the World Health Organization warned yesterday, as it reported seven more cases of the disease.

“We are on the epidemiological knife edge,” Peter Salama, in charge of emergency response at the WHO, told a special meeting on the outbreak that has killed 27 people.

“The next few weeks will really tell if this outbreak is going to expand to urban areas or if we are going to be able to keep it under control,” said Salama.

The agency issued a new toll, saying there had been 58 cases since the outbreak was declared on May 8 — an increase of seven over figures issued on Tuesday — and said it was actively following more than 600 contacts.

One of the world’s most notorious diseases, Ebola is a virus-caused hemorrhagic fever that spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can lead to fatal bleeding from internal organs, the mouth, eyes or ears. The outbreak began in rural northwestern DRC in a remote location called Bikoro.

Last Thursday, the first case was reported in Mbandaka — a city of around 1.2 million people that lies on the Congo River, acting as a transport hub to Brazzaville and Kinshasa downstream and to Bangui, upstream. So far, seven cases have surfaced in Mbandaka.

“An urban case means that it can spread quickly. That is another challenge,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told yesterday’s session during the agency’s annual World Health Assembly.

The proximity of the outbreak to neighboring countries, especially through the river connection, was a major concern, he said.

“They are connected, they are very close, and that is another challenge that makes the problem really serious,” he said.

Salama said another concerning factor was that five health care workers were among those infected.

At the same time, though, the top WHO officials and DRC’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva Zenon Mukongo Ngay, who spoke at the event, stressed the massive efforts put in place to halt the outbreak.

Salama said in just the two weeks since the outbreak was declared, clinical care facilities have been set up, an air bridge has been established to Bikoro, emergency financing has been mobilized, protective gear and emergency medical kits have been supplied. In addition, a vaccination campaign has begun and more than 120 WHO staff alone have been deployed.