In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), cited as the origin of the Ebola virus, deaths from a recent outbreak have surpassed 200. The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the risk level within the DRC to "very high," and countries including the United States are tightening entry screening.
AP and AFP reported on the 24th (local time), citing the DRC Ministry of Communication and Media, that the number of suspected cases linked to the Ebola outbreak has risen to 867, with 204 deaths. So far, 91 cases have been confirmed, and 10 of the dead tested positive for Ebola.
The affected areas are three provinces in northeastern DRC: Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. WHO announced on the 22nd that there were 177 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC, meaning 27 more were added in just one day.
WHO said the Ebola virus is spreading rapidly locally and raised the national risk level in the DRC from "high" to "very high."
There are growing concerns it could spread to neighboring countries. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a health agency under the African Union (AU), warned that not only the DRC and Uganda but also 10 neighboring countries—Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia—could be affected. Africa CDC said frequent population movements and unstable security are increasing the risk of spread.
Internal unrest is also growing in the DRC. In Mongbwalu in the east, on the night of the 22nd, residents set fire to a tent clinic set up by Doctors Without Borders. It was reportedly in protest of the authorities' control measures. Earlier, in the nearby village of Rwampara, residents who were banned from retrieving family members' bodies set fire to a clinic tent.
No one was injured in the second attack, but as patients fled the flames, 18 suspected Ebola patients went missing, local medical staff said.
It was also suggested that the spread may have started earlier than previously announced. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said three volunteers who were on duty in Ituri died between the 5th and 16th, and they appear to have been infected around Mar. 27 in Mongbwalu. DRC health authorities had reported the first death in Ituri at the end of April.
Confirmed cases also increased in neighboring Uganda. After one of the two previously confirmed patients died, three more were confirmed, bringing the cumulative total to five. According to the Ugandan Ministry of Health, two of the new confirmed patients are Ugandan nationals. This is the first time Ugandan nationals have been confirmed in this outbreak.
One Ugandan patient is the driver of the vehicle that carried the first confirmed Congolese patient, and another is a health worker. The remaining new confirmed case is a Congolese woman who flew by charter from the DRC to a private hospital in Kampala, Uganda's capital, for treatment. Ugandan authorities are identifying people who had contact with this woman.
Countries are moving to block the entry of Ebola. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designated Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as an enhanced Ebola screening airport, following Washington Dulles International Airport.
The United States is allowing entry only through Ebola screening airports for people who have stayed in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past three weeks. At those airports, enhanced measures such as in-flight illness reporting and post-entry monitoring are implemented.
Earlier, the United States temporarily suspended visa issuance to foreign nationals who visited areas with Ebola spread. Even permanent residents faced restrictions on reentering the United States if they had visited affected areas.
The United Kingdom is tracking the movements of travelers arriving from Ebola-affected countries and is running a monitoring program to protect its citizens traveling to infected areas. The Ministry of Health in Burkina Faso also said it is strengthening border surveillance and preparing to quickly isolate and treat suspected patients.
International health organizations say that because initial testing has shown a high positivity rate and the number of suspected cases continues to rise, the actual scale of infection could be larger than the official tally.