By Gloria Ogbonna
Health officials across Africa are raising alarm over a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning that the crisis could escalate into one of the most devastating epidemics the continent has ever experienced if urgent action is not taken.
Speaking on Tuesday, Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), expressed grave concern over the growing outbreak, noting that health authorities have been unable to locate and test many people who may have been exposed to the virus.
“If we don’t stop the outbreak very soon, it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC,” Kaseya warned.
His comments drew attention because the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa remains one of the deadliest outbreaks ever recorded, claiming more than 11,000 lives across several countries. Another major outbreak in eastern Congo between 2018 and 2020 resulted in nearly 2,300 deaths despite extensive international response efforts.
According to the latest figures released by the Congolese Ministry of Health, the current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has resulted in 782 reported cases and 181 confirmed deaths. While those numbers remain significantly lower than previous epidemics, public health experts fear they may represent only a fraction of the true scale of the outbreak.
One of the greatest challenges facing health authorities is the difficulty of identifying, tracing, and isolating infected individuals. The outbreak is occurring in eastern Congo, a region plagued by political instability, armed conflict, population displacement, and limited healthcare infrastructure. These conditions have severely hampered efforts to monitor the spread of the virus and respond effectively.
Officials believe the outbreak may have been spreading for weeks or even months before it was formally declared, allowing the virus to move through communities largely undetected. As a result, the number of infections and deaths could be far higher than current official statistics indicate.
Compounding the crisis is widespread mistrust of medical authorities among some local communities. In many areas, residents remain skeptical of government health workers and international aid organizations, leading some families to refuse treatment or remove patients from Ebola treatment centers.
A dramatic example occurred this week when a group of unidentified attackers armed with bladed weapons reportedly stormed a treatment facility and forcibly removed a woman and her six-year-old daughter. Authorities said the incident reflects a growing trend in which families retrieve both living and deceased Ebola patients from isolation centers due to cultural beliefs, mistrust of healthcare workers, or fears surrounding the disease.
Dr. Lubambo Maboko Gaston, the Ebola response manager for North Kivu province, issued a public appeal urging the missing individuals to seek medical care immediately.
“Until now we have not yet found the two people we are searching for,” he said. “We are making a solemn appeal for them to go as soon as possible to an Ebola treatment center, as their return to the community risks worsening their health and, above all, infecting their relatives.”
Health officials confirmed that the six-year-old child who was taken from the facility had tested positive for Ebola, making her one of 67 confirmed cases in North Kivu province. Most confirmed infections, however, have been concentrated in neighboring Ituri province, where investigators believe the outbreak first began.
Public health experts say misinformation and deeply rooted traditional beliefs continue to complicate containment efforts. Many residents seek treatment from traditional healers who rely on herbal remedies, prayers, and spiritual rituals rather than modern medicine.
While these practices are culturally significant in many communities, health experts warn that they can contribute to the spread of Ebola. Healing ceremonies, prayer gatherings, and traditional funerals often involve close physical contact, creating opportunities for the highly infectious virus to spread rapidly among family members and neighbors.
Onesphore Bangenza, an emergency response specialist with the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps, said misinformation remains one of the biggest barriers to controlling the outbreak.
“Some people still describe Ebola as something mysterious, spiritual, or brought by outsiders, rather than a disease that needs medical care,” Bangenza explained. “When people do not trust the health system, they often go first to traditional healers, faith leaders, or people they already know. The danger is that many only reach the hospital when they are already very sick.”
Community leaders acknowledge that Ebola’s severe symptoms often lead people to believe supernatural forces are involved. Vincent Isimbwa, a Seventh-day Adventist elder from Uganda’s Bundibugyo district—where the virus strain was first identified in 2007—said such beliefs are common during outbreaks.
“The challenge with Ebola is that it is so bad that some people can believe that there are supernatural powers behind it,” he said.
Some traditional healers argue that uncertainty surrounding treatment outcomes fuels suspicion toward modern medicine. Because not every infected person dies and treatments are not always successful, some villagers conclude that health authorities are withholding information about spiritual causes of illness.
Meanwhile, international health advocates are pushing for greater access to experimental treatments that could help combat the outbreak. A coalition of advocacy groups recently urged the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to work alongside Africa CDC and the World Health Organization to make promising therapies available to patients in affected regions.
Among the most promising options is an experimental treatment known as MBP134, developed by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical. Initially designed to combat the Sudan strain of Ebola, laboratory research suggests the treatment may also be effective against the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current outbreak.
Scientists involved in the project believe MBP134 may eventually prove effective against all known strains of the Ebola virus. Although only a limited supply is currently available, some doses have already been distributed for use among high-risk individuals.
At the same time, researchers continue working to develop vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain. The World Health Organization has identified two vaccine candidates for accelerated development—one supported by the AIDS Vaccine Initiative and another being developed through a partnership between Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India.
However, experts caution that both vaccine projects remain in the early stages of development and are still months away from entering large-scale clinical trials. As a result, healthcare workers must continue relying on contact tracing, isolation measures, public education campaigns, and experimental treatments to contain the outbreak.
With hundreds of cases already reported and many contacts still unaccounted for, health officials warn that the coming weeks could determine whether the current Ebola outbreak remains manageable or grows into one of the deadliest public health emergencies Africa has faced in decades.
Source Breitbart
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