At least six American citizens may have been exposed to Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to World Health Organization (WHO) sources who say one of those individuals is already experiencing symptoms.
Three of the six are believed to have had high-risk contact with the virus. It is not yet known whether any of them have contracted Ebola or whether those involved remain in the country.
The CDC said it is coordinating the “safe withdrawal” of a small number of Americans linked directly to the outbreak, while emphasizing that “the risk to the American public remains low.”
The update comes after the WHO declared the outbreak spanning Congo and Uganda a “public health emergency of international concern” this week, the most serious alert level the agency can issue.
So far, at least 80 suspected deaths have been reported, and more than 300 suspected cases had been recorded in DR Congo as of Sunday. The CDC has confirmed eight cases through laboratory testing.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is infected; it is not spread through the air or through casual contact. Common symptoms include fever, muscle pain, rash, extreme fatigue, stomach pain, vomiting blood, and nosebleeds.
Health officials say the outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain, an uncommon and especially severe variant first identified in 2007.
Unlike the better-known Zaire strain, which has vaccines available, Bundibugyo currently has no approved vaccine and no targeted treatment.
“The Bundibugyo strain has no vaccine, no specific treatment,” DR Congo health minister Samuel-Roger Kamba warned at a press briefing in Kinshasa on Saturday.
“This strain has a very high lethality rate which can reach 50 percent.”
The outbreak is centered in Congo’s eastern Ituri province, and it is the country’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since 1976. The region has faced devastating epidemics before; one of the worst outbreaks on record claimed more than 11,000 lives between 2014 and 2016, underscoring how quickly the situation can escalate if containment fails.
The CDC has issued travel advisories for Americans in both Congo and Uganda, recommending “enhanced precautions” and advising people to avoid anyone showing possible Ebola symptoms. Travelers planning visits to either country have been urged to review the latest official guidance before departure.
Ituri is a gold-rich province bordering Uganda and South Sudan, and it has been shaped by decades of armed violence. For more than 30 years, eastern DRC has been contested by multiple groups seeking control of lucrative mining areas, while long-running clashes between the Hema and Lendu communities have fueled instability across the province.
In past emergencies, aid workers have been killed and medical facilities attacked, and the wider region now has more than 7.8 million people internally displaced.