Until now, three Congolese provinces were affected by the Ebola epidemic: Ituri (bordering Uganda and South Sudan), neighbouring North Kivu, and South Kivu. Twenty cases including two deaths have been recorded in Uganda.
Haut-Uélé has now become the fourth Congolese province to be hit. This region, adjacent to Ituri, shares borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
According to a source at the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), an infected person travelled from Ituri to Haut-Uélé, bringing the case into the area. A health source confirmed that the patient has died.
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Health authorities are working to trace the transmission chain and identify likely contacts. In many instances, the disease has spread during funeral rites, as the body of an Ebola victim is highly contagious.
For weeks, humanitarian workers on the ground have been trying, despite strong public distrust, to organise burials that follow strict health measures to prevent any contact with the bodies of the deceased.
In the DR Congo, as elsewhere in Africa, funeral ceremonies often last several days, during which families and relatives typically touch the body of the deceased.
These regions are also plagued by violence from armed groups
Incidents have been reported in several health centres in recent weeks, often caused by angry community members demanding the return of their loved ones’ remains.
Haut-Uélé shares the same characteristics as Ituri: areas located at the crossroads of several countries and rich in gold, making them zones of intense trade and transit, which facilitates the spread of the virus.
These regions are also experiencing violence from armed groups. In Ituri, massacres have been occurring regularly for about ten years, carried out by community militias or the ADF armed group, affiliated with the Islamic State.
The ADF has recently made incursions into Haut-Uélé, which is also troubled by violence from armed groups from neighbouring countries. The security context in which the Ebola epidemic continues to worsen is a challenge for the health response, which was launched late. Humanitarian workers and scientists say health authorities were slow to detect the virus.
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According to epidemiological investigation elements still to be confirmed, the first suspected deaths may date back to January. In Ituri, efforts have recently been stepped up, but health facilities, often operating with limited resources in one of the world’s poorest countries, still lack equipment and basic supplies such as protective kits and chlorine.
Ebola treatment centres set up with teams from the WHO and several NGOs are already saturated, with an occupancy rate of over 138%, according to the National Institute of Public Health (INSP). So far, 78 health workers have been infected, 18 of whom have died.
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Experts and health authorities agree that more than six weeks after the official declaration of the epidemic, the peak has not yet been reached, and the crisis could last between six months and a year. Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo caused nearly 2,300 deaths out of 3,500 recorded cases between 2018 and 2020.
