The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has now reached a seventh province, with authorities confirming the rare Bundibugyo virus has been detected in the country’s northwest.
Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, governor of Sud-Ubangi province, announced on Thursday that laboratory tests by Congo’s national research institute identified the strain in a sample from the Bulu health district. Local media reported the statement on Friday. The source of that infection was not disclosed.
This marks the first time the outbreak has reached western Congo, expanding far beyond its original concentration in the east. Sud-Ubangi does not share a border with any of the six previously affected eastern provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo and Bas-Uele. Instead it borders the Central African Republic, raising fears of cross-border transmission.
The outbreak has now produced 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths as of Wednesday, according to the latest government figures. The World Health Organization has warned that the crisis remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, which killed more than 11,000 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Recent weeks have shown a shifting pattern in the outbreak’s geography. New cases and deaths have declined in Ituri, the original epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele. The virus continues to spread amid severe operational challenges including insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements.
Displacement sites present particularly acute risks, with residents already living in extremely precarious conditions that accelerate transmission.
The Bundibugyo virus driving this outbreak is a rare Ebola strain for which no licensed vaccine currently exists. Last month, Congo began vaccinating health and front-line workers with the Ervebo vaccine, which proved effective against the more common Zaire Ebola virus in past outbreaks but does not protect against Bundibugyo.
Clinical trials for a Bundibugyo-specific vaccine are now underway in eastern Congo’s Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele provinces, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC’s director for research, clinical trials and innovation, said Thursday. Vaccinations in Ituri are scheduled to begin next week, he added.
The outbreak’s westward leap to Sud-Ubangi intensifies concerns about regional spread. The WHO warned last month that the virus could reach neighboring Central African Republic and South Sudan, which border affected provinces. A case detected in Kinshasa in May involved a traveler from eastern Congo, though the capital was not classified as an affected province.
Uganda, which had reported 20 cases since May, declared itself Ebola-free in July.