KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, the world's fastest-growing outbreak on record, has now spread to seven provinces in the African country, local authorities said. And it's showing no signs of slowing down.
According to the governor of the northwestern province of Sud-Ubangi, Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, laboratory tests by Congo’s national research institute found in a sample the Bundibugyo virus, the rare kind of Ebola that caused the current outbreak.
The statement, which was issued on Thursday and reported by local media outlets on Friday, did not say where the sample was from or disclose other information about the source of the infection.
Sud-Ubangi is the seventh province affected by the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo. As of Wednesday, 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths have been reported, according to the latest government figures.
The World Health Organization has said the outbreak remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have declined in Ituri province, the outbreak’s epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele.
The outbreak is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The situation is particularly concerning at displacement sites, where residents already live in extremely precarious conditions.
Sud-Ubangi, which borders the Central African Republic, does not border any of the six provinces in eastern Congo where confirmed Ebola cases had previously been reported. They include Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo and Bas-Uele.
Last month, Congo began vaccinating health and other front-line workers with the Ervebo vaccine that was effective in past Ebola outbreaks caused by a different, more common type called Zaire.
Clinical trials are underway to find a licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus.
The vaccination trials started in the eastern Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele provinces, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC’s director for research, clinical trials and innovation, said Thursday. Vaccinations in Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak are set to start next week, he added.
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