“To date, 2,073 cases have been reported, including 796 deaths. » Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), presented on Thursday July 16 the grim provisional assessment of the Ebola epidemic declared two months ago in DR Congo. And the real numbers are probably much higher.
The Bundibugyo variant, responsible for this new wave of contaminations, appears to be particularly contagious. “This is now the third largest Ebola outbreak on record: over the past month, it has spread faster than any previous outbreak,” the WHO chief warned.
May 15: declaration of a new Ebola virus epidemic
The Africa CDC, the health agency of the African Union, officially declared the 17th Ebola epidemic in the DRC on May 15. The results then show 65 deaths probably linked to the virus.
The focus of the epidemic is located in Ituri, a northeastern Congolese province bordering Uganda and South Sudan. This gold-producing region is experiencing intense population movements linked to mining activity and certain parts of the territory are difficult to access due to the presence of armed groups. A few days later, a first case of transmission of the virus was confirmed in the eastern province of South Kivu, in an area that fell into the hands of the M23 armed group last year.
May 17: WHO declares a public health emergency of international concern
A new milestone was reached on May 17. The WHO declares a public health emergency of international concern in the face of the epidemic hitting DR Congo. This is its second highest alert level behind “pandemic emergency”.
Three days later, the organization indicates that given the scale of contamination, the Bundibugyo variant has probably been spreading for “a few months” in the country. Investigations are launched to trace the chains of transmission.
May 27: Uganda closes its borders
On May 27, “faced with the intensification” of the hemorrhagic fever epidemic, Uganda decided to temporarily close its borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo. A decision criticized by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who recalls that “the WHO does not recommend a travel ban because it does not help”.
The border crossing between the two countries remains open only to members of disease control teams, humanitarian aid, the transport of food or freight, and to certain members of the security forces, under strict conditions.
June 24: first case identified in France
A first case of Ebola was identified in France on June 24. He is a doctor returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Working for the humanitarian NGO Alima, he boarded a flight from Kinshasa with no symptoms other than headaches, but his condition deteriorated slightly during the journey.
He was placed in quarantine as soon as he left the plane, then hospitalized. Five potential contact cases are also placed in isolation. At the beginning of July, the doctor, cured, returned home after two negative PCR tests.
July 2: start of a clinical trial
There is hope on July 2. The head of the WHO announces the launch of a clinical trial of two treatments against the Bundibugyo virus with the recruitment of a first patient in DR Congo.
This trial – called “Partners” – should make it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral remdesivir, when they are administered alone or in combination.
July 16: Uganda no longer has any sick people
On July 16, Uganda announced that it no longer had any patients infected with the Ebola virus on its territory. The last patient recorded left the hospital cured that day. But the country must still wait 42 days without a new case, twice the maximum incubation period of the virus, to be declared free of the virus.
In two months, Uganda has recorded 20 confirmed Ebola virus infections and two deaths. Figures much lower than those recorded in neighboring DRC, where the Bundibugyo variant continues its worrying spread which is causing many victims.
