Ebola outbreak in Congo prompts ECOWAS alert across West Africa

On September 4, the DRC Ministry of Health confirmed five laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Kasai province. The index patient, a 34-year-old woman from Bulape district, developed fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, and bleeding before being admitted to the hospital on August 20. She died five days later.

Since then, authorities have reported 28 suspected cases and at least 16 deaths, including four health workers, putting the case fatality rate at about 57%. 

The country’s Public Health Emergency Operations Centre has activated its Incident Management System, deploying rapid response teams and reinforcing epidemiological surveillance. Triage and isolation facilities have been established, and investigations are underway to identify and monitor contacts.

This marks the 16th Ebola outbreak in DRC since the virus was first discovered there in 1976. Officials confirmed the latest flare-up is caused by the Zaire strain, for which a vaccine exists. According to the World Health Organisation, stocks of the vaccine are prepositioned in Kinshasa and are expected to be delivered to affected sites.

Following this, the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC) has said the risk of the virus spreading to West Africa is “significant” due to the high volume of travel between the DRC and West African capitals.

The Regional body has therefore urged ECOWAS member states to amongst others, "strengthen surveillance and early warning systems, especially at airports and other entry points for passengers arriving from or transiting through the DRC, reinforce rapid response teams to ensure immediate action if suspected cases are identified," an information note stated.

The warning despite heightened vigilance in West Africa, which suffered a devastating Ebola outbreak from 2014 to 2016 that killed more than 11,000 people across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.