Ebola outbreak kills 65 in Congo’s Ituri province, 246 cases suspected

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Friday that a new Ebola outbreak is underway in Congo’s Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths concentrated in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones.

The strain identification is the critical open question: preliminary results suggest a non-Ebola Zaire strain, and the Ervebo vaccine in Congo’s stockpile is effective only against the Zaire strain. Confirmation of the specific strain is expected within 24 hours, the Africa CDC said.

The outbreak lands in one of Congo’s most difficult operating environments. Ituri is more than 1,000 kilometers from Kinshasa, plagued by poor road access, active violence from the Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces, and heavy mining-related population movement that the Africa CDC says raises the risk of further spread.

The province also borders both Uganda and South Sudan, prompting the Africa CDC to convene an emergency coordination meeting Friday with health officials from all three countries. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO is releasing $500,000 for the response and that a WHO team has already been on the ground investigating.

This is a developing story.