Residents of Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are living in growing fear as Ebola resurfaces nearly six years after the last outbreak ended. The World Health Organization announced the outbreak last week, and locals are concerned about the disease's spread and its economic consequences.
Panic and Fear in Communities
“On public transport, in bars and at mass gatherings, everyone is talking about Ebola,” said Gloire Mumbesa, a resident of Mongbwalu, a mining town in Ituri. He noted that cases have been reported locally, and panic is spreading due to the lack of a vaccine for the Bundibudyo strain. “The fear is that this disease may spread to many other areas,” he added.
Dieudonné Lossadekana, a resident of Bunia city where the first suspected case was reported, expressed shock: “We’re stunned by the resurgence of Ebola in our region. We’ve already recorded several dozen deaths. For us, it’s heartbreaking.”
Economic Impact Amidst Conflict
The economic fallout is a major worry, as residents fear restrictions that could hinder their ability to earn a living in a region already plagued by armed conflict and poverty. “We live in a region where poverty is rife and people live from hand to mouth,” said Claude Kasuna in Irumu territory. “When a health emergency like this one strikes, it hits us hard economically.”
The WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths were reported in the DRC, along with two deaths in neighboring Uganda. Most cases are in Ituri, a business and migratory hub bordering Uganda and South Sudan. The province is rich in gold but has seen a long-running conflict between Hema and Lendu militias, killing over 50,000 people since 1999.
Details of the Outbreak
According to WHO, a health worker who was the first suspected case reported fever, haemorrhaging, vomiting, and other symptoms on 24 April and died at a medical centre in Bunia. Jean Pierre Badombo, a former mayor of Mongbwalu, told Reuters that people began falling ill in mid-April after a large open-casket funeral procession arrived from Bunia. “After that, we experienced a cascade of deaths,” he said.
Government and International Response
On Monday, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba announced the government would open three treatment centres for Ebola in Ituri. The WHO regional office for Africa said 35 experts and seven tonnes of emergency medical supplies had arrived in Bunia. Elsewhere, a case was reported in rebel-controlled Goma, a woman who travelled from Bunia after her husband died of the disease.
Heather Kerr, DRC country director at the International Rescue Committee, noted that the conflict makes containment “all the harder.” “Eastern DRC’s years of conflict and displacement have left health systems on their knees,” she said. “With dozens of lives already lost and an already overstretched health system, we need to act fast.” Manenji Mangundu, DRC country director at Oxfam, said the outbreak is “hitting a country already stretched to breaking point” due to conflict and aid cuts.
About the Virus and Vaccine Efforts
Ebola, first identified in 1976 in what is now the DRC, is a highly contagious viral disease spread through body fluids. The current outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo variant, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, director general of the National Institute of Biomedical Research in the DRC, said candidate compounds for a vaccine are expected to enter trials by the end of May or June. In the meantime, the government is implementing preventive measures, including protecting healthcare workers and treating symptoms. “This is how we brought the Bundibugyo strain outbreak under control in 2012 in Isiro, not far from Ituri,” he said.
This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. From August 2018 to June 2020, the country experienced its deadliest outbreak, centered in North Kivu and Ituri, causing over 2,000 deaths. Authorities must address enduring stigma and misconceptions, as Kasuna noted: “Our people tend to believe in false myths rather than rely on scientific evidence. We need to raise awareness to save people’s lives.”
