WHO declares international health emergency over Bundibugyo Ebola in Congo and Uganda

The World Health Organization has declared the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. At the time of the declaration, 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths had been recorded in Ituri province, in addition to two confirmed cases in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

The declaration of a public health emergency of international concern is the tool through which the WHO signals a level of alarm that exceeds the borders of the countries directly affected. The presence of confirmed cases in Kampala, outside the Ituri area where the bulk of infections are concentrated, indicates that the virus has already crossed at least one internal administrative boundary relative to the main outbreak.

Médecins Sans Frontières has described the situation as “extremely concerning”, according to Sky TG24, and the humanitarian organization is preparing a large-scale response. The available sources do not specify what this response will concretely consist of, nor the expected timeline for its deployment on the ground.

The ratio between suspected cases and deaths — 246 cases against 80 deaths — points to a picture of significant severity in Ituri province alone, although the sources do not clarify what criterion distinguishes suspected cases from confirmed ones, nor whether the figure of 246 already includes the two cases in Kampala or refers exclusively to the Congolese outbreak.

It should be noted that the news currently comes from a single source, the Sky TG24 newsroom, which cites a statement from the World Health Organization; there is no independent confirmation of the reported figures or of the declaration of international emergency itself.

The toll of 80 deaths out of 246 suspected cases in Ituri province remains, at this stage, the most solid data point on which the WHO’s emergency declaration is based.