Kinshasa: A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. WHO's representative in DRC, Dr Anne Ancia, told reporters in Geneva that there are more than 500 suspected cases including 130 suspected deaths, but only 30 cases have been confirmed in the country so far. The agency is working closely with the authorities and rushing more testing kits to eastern DRC to identify cases of infection of Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics. 'We have significant uncertainty about the number of infections and how far the virus has spread,' Dr Ancia said.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, Dr Ancia stated that the outbreak has also reached North Kivu, with confirmed cases in Butembo and Goma. Uganda has confirmed two imported cases. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday morning. He has expressed concern about the 'scale and speed of the epidemic'. Uncertainty still surrounds how and where the outbreak started. 'I don't think that we have the 'patient zero' for now,' said Dr Ancia. She detailed the initial cases, explaining the challenges faced in detecting the virus due to local tests in Bunia showing negative results for the Zaire strain of Ebola. The disease's symptoms, including fever, fatigue, diarrhoea, and vomiting, complicated swift diagnosis.
Tests conducted in Kinshasa revealed the presence of the Bundibugyo virus. Dr Ancia highlighted the international focus on potential candidate vaccines or treatments to fight the outbreak. A WHO technical advisory group was scheduled to meet to recommend which potential vaccine should be prioritized. Ervebo, a vaccine against the Zaire Ebola virus, is under consideration but may take two months for availability. Dr Ancia emphasized the importance of grassroots work within communities to raise awareness, fight misinformation, and ensure adherence to sanitary measures, especially around funerals.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that the affected provinces of Ituri and North Kivu are home to over two million internally displaced people and returnees, with healthcare capacity weakened by conflict. Concerns extend to refugees living in affected areas, with preventive assistance needed for South Sudanese refugees in Ituri and sanitary supplies for Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Goma. The most recent outbreak of the Ebola Zaire virus in DRC ended in December 2025, yet the trauma of a major epidemic in North Kivu and Ituri in 2018-19 lingers among the population. Dr Ancia warned that it may be two months until a vaccine is available, stressing that the outbreak may not be resolved in the same timeframe, recalling the two-year duration of the previous outbreak.