Congo announces 3 Ebola treatment centers in Ituri as country grapples with a new outbreak

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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Congolese health minister announced the opening of three treatment centers in the Ituri region of eastern Congo on Sunday evening as the country grapples with a new Ebola outbreak.

“We know that the hospitals are already under stress because of the patients,” the minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said during a visit to Bunia, the capital and largest city in Ituri. "But we are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our capabilities.”

The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths in Congo and two in neighboring Uganda. Although the outbreak is centered in Ituri, cases have been reported in the capital, Kinshasa, and in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo.

The WHO Regional Office for Africa said Sunday on X that a team of 35 experts from the WHO and the Congolese Ministry of Health had arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, along with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.

Rwanda closed its land border with Congo on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said on social media on Sunday evening. AP reporters tried to cross the border on Sunday and Monday morning, but were informed it was closed except for holders of international flight tickets. Rwandan authorities have not replied to a request for comments.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.

Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.

The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37. The second time was in 2012, in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.

WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. By WHO’s standards, it shows the event is serious, there is a risk of international spread and it requires a coordinated international response.

Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told Sky News on Sunday that he is in “panic mode” due to a lack of medicines and vaccines as deaths rise, but there are some candidate treatments anticipated in the coming weeks.

The East African Community a regional bloc that includes Congo, said Monday that the new Ebola outbreak underscores the importance of regional solidarity and preparedness. Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, the deputy secretary general, said that given the high level of movement of people and goods across the region, coordinated preparedness and rapid information sharing are essential to preventing cross-border transmission.

In a statement he added that the bloc is committed to helping its members strengthen surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control and other efforts, particularly in border areas.