The Bundibugyo virus has reached eight of Congo's 26 provinces and spread to Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, with fighting in Ituri and North Kivu blocking health workers.
The Bundibugyo virus has reached 62 of 167 health zones in seven provinces four months after it was declared. Africa CDC says a few hot spots in Ituri are finally dipping.
Health officials call it the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic Africa has recorded, driven by a rare viral strain with no approved vaccine or cure.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed 1,118 cases and 291 deaths from a fast-moving Bundibugyo virus outbreak that has now reached Uganda and France.
Congo's Health Ministry reported 282 confirmed cases and dozens of deaths in Ituri province as the Bundibugyo strain jumps borders into Uganda, colliding with armed conflict that is hampering the response.
An outbreak centered on the gold-mining town of Mongbwalu has killed at least 264 people and crossed into Uganda's capital, while attacks on health workers hamper the response.
WatchArmed groups in Ituri Province have ambushed response teams, stoned vaccinators, and burned a treatment unit in Bunia as the eighth Public Health Emergency of International Concern in the framework's 20-year history puts the U.S. CDC on Level 3 activation and routes all incoming passengers from Kinshasa, Entebbe and Kigali through five designated airports.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus invoked the agency’s highest alarm Sunday after eight confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths surfaced in Ituri Province, with cross-border spread to western Uganda and no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain.
The CDC said Stafford and five other high-risk American contacts have been evacuated to Germany, with a sixth in the Czech Republic, after the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
WatchThe rare Bundibugyo strain — for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment — has killed at least 88 people across Ituri province and Kampala, and at least six other Americans are believed to have been exposed.