WHO warns Ebola outbreak in Africa has already spread beyond initial zones

The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda may be spreading faster than previously assumed, the BBC reported.

It said the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified just over 500 suspected cases so far.

However, modelling by experts at the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) suggests that a significant proportion of infections may have gone undetected, with total cases potentially exceeding 1,000.

WHO representative Anne Ancia told the BBC that Ituri province — the epicentre of the outbreak — is considered a “very unsecured area with lots of movement of population,” complicating monitoring and containment efforts.

“The more we are investigating this outbreak, the more we realise that it has already disseminated at least a little bit across border and also in other provinces,” she said.

Health authorities in the DRC first received alerts from Ituri on May 5. Nine days later, Congolese health officials identified the causative agent as the Ebola-Bundibugyo virus. An outbreak was subsequently declared in both the DRC and neighbouring Uganda.

On May 17, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the two countries a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov