Key facts
- A 6-month-old girl died from Ebola, marking the third child death at an eastern Congo orphanage.
- The current outbreak is concentrated in the Ituri region, with over 90% of cases reported there.
- Containment efforts are complicated by community clashes with healthcare workers and the lack of approved treatments or vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
- The outbreak has spread to neighboring provinces and across the border into Uganda, where 19 cases and two deaths have been reported.
- The current outbreak has resulted in 894 confirmed cases and over 200 deaths.
Mourners gathered in eastern Congo to bury a 6-month-old girl who succumbed to Ebola, marking the third child death at a local orphanage amid the ongoing outbreak. The Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine, has complicated containment efforts, particularly in the Ituri region, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The response has been hampered by clashes between residents and healthcare professionals over burial practices and a sometimes militarized approach to containment. Safe burial practices, essential for preventing further spread, have been impersonal, with only health workers in protective gear handling the coffins.
This outbreak is significantly worse than a previous one in Uganda in 2000, with 894 confirmed cases and over 200 deaths so far, and risks affecting 35,000 potential contacts. The lack of early testing for the Bundibugyo strain, unlike the more common Zaire virus for which a vaccine exists, has contributed to its spread.
Cases have been reported in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have crossed the border into Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases and two deaths have occurred. Health officials and aid workers are urging the public not to become indifferent to the severity of the epidemic and the human toll it is taking.