WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that Congo's current Ebola outbreak, driven by the rare Bundibugyo virus, is on pace to surpass the 2014-2016 West African outbreak that killed over 11,000 people out of 28,000 cases. The outbreak, declared May 15 but now traced back to February, has already killed more than 2,000 people out of over 4,300 cases in eastern Congo.
No approved vaccines or treatments exist for this strain, and response efforts are struggling against conflict, poor infrastructure, striking health workers, and community mistrust near the borders with South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda. WHO's Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud said the outbreak could peak in six months, or drag on for up to a year in a worse scenario.
Two vaccines specifically developed for this virus are now in first-time human trials, alongside treatment trials underway in Ituri province. A Nature Medicine study this week found the outbreak likely originated from a single animal-to-human transmission genetically distinct from earlier Bundibugyo outbreaks.
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