DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreads to Mbandaka city

Health workers at Bikoro hospital in DR CongoImage copyright

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Twenty-three people are known to have died


Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga confirmed a case in Mbandaka, a city of a million about 130km (80 miles) from where the first cases were confirmed.




The World Health Organization (WHO) has called an emergency meeting of experts to talk about the risk that Ebola might spread beyond DR Congo.

It will meet on Friday to decide whether to declare an international public health emergency which would trigger a larger global response, like in the case of the 2014-16 Western African Ebola outbreak and the 2016 Zika virus in Latin America.

Why is the spread to a city such a worry?




Mr Salama, the WHO’s deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response, said Mbandaka’s location on the Congo river, widely used for transportation, raised the prospect of Ebola spreading to surrounding countries such as Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic as well as downstream to Kinshasa, a city of 10 million people.


What is being done to contain the outbreak?

So far only three of the 44 cases have been confirmed as Ebola and involve people who are still alive, the WHO says. There are a further 20 probable cases and 21 suspected cases.

The cases were recorded in three health zones of Congo’s Equateur province.


The disease may have been brought there, he said, by two or three people who had attended the funeral of an Ebola victim in Bikoro to the south of Mbandaka before travelling to the city.


These would be given as a priority to people in Mbandaka who had been in contact with those suspected of carrying the Ebola virus before people in any other affected area, in order to stop Ebola spreading in the urban region and beyond, Mr Salama said.

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Media captionHow the virus attacks human cells




A poor city with intermittent power

By Jacques Matand’, BBC Afrique

Mbandaka is a poor city on the banks of the River Congo.

Those of its residents who can afford to pay for electricity only get it for three to four hours a day, otherwise people use generators or solar panels.

The city has two hospitals, which have received money for renovations. But even they do not have a regular electricity supply and have to rely on generators.

For water, Mbandaka’s residents use wells or the river. Many people also use the river as a toilet, meaning there is a high risk of diseases spreading.

Passenger boats used to operate along the river to Kinshasa but these are no longer working. However, traders still use wooden canoes to reach the capital to buy and sell their goods – and this is how it is feared Ebola could spread.

What about travel restrictions?



“The good news is that the DR Congo population is very used to Ebola outbreaks,” he added.

“They know to protect themselves by avoiding mass gatherings and mass funerals. They know as well that traditional healers can amplify the outbreak.”

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An experimental vaccine has arrived in the country




Why does Ebola keep coming back?




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