Congo’s Ebola outbreak started months before it was declared, says WHO

The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as responders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) struggle to catch up.

The WHO regional director for Africa, Mohamed Yakub Janabi, told a press conference that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start.

He said some cases early in the outbreak were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid.

“So we are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us,” Janabi said.

Confirmed cases of Ebola in this outbreak have reached 4,200, including over 1,900 deaths, according to the latest government figures.

The outbreak declared on May 15 is unlike most previous ones for Ebola because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments.