The United Nations has released $60 million in emergency funding to combat a fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as fears grow over a potential regional health crisis linked to a rare and highly dangerous strain of the virus with no approved vaccine.
The emergency funding, drawn from the UN’s rapid response reserve, will support urgent containment measures including contact tracing, treatment centres, isolation facilities and intensified community education campaigns aimed at stopping the outbreak before it spreads further across Central and East Africa.
The outbreak, centred in the DRC, has already recorded about 750 suspected infections and 177 deaths, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17.
Health officials say the outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a variant for which there is currently no proven vaccine or targeted treatment, heightening concerns among international health agencies.
Unlike the more common Zaire Ebola strain, which has approved vaccines, the Bundibugyo virus remains difficult to contain, with previous outbreaks showing mortality rates of about 30 per cent.
Experts warn that the combination of mining activity, urban transmission and cross-border population movement is increasing the risk of wider regional spread.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has identified the urban areas of Rwampara and Bunia, as well as mining zones in Mongwalu, as high-risk transmission corridors because of heavy human movement and overcrowded conditions.
The virus spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood, vomit and sweat. Symptoms initially resemble flu-like illnesses including fever, headache and weakness before progressing to vomiting, diarrhoea, organ failure and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.
Health authorities say rapid detection, strict isolation and public cooperation will be critical in containing the outbreak, especially because symptoms can take up to 21 days to appear after infection.
The latest outbreak marks the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in the DRC since the virus was first discovered in the country in 1976.
The country’s deadliest Ebola epidemic between 2018 and 2020 killed nearly 2,300 people, while another outbreak last year claimed 45 lives in a remote part of the country.
Global health officials say the latest emergency response is aimed at preventing another large-scale humanitarian disaster as African and international agencies race against time to stop the virus from spreading beyond current hotspots.
