Three questions about the Ebola virus which resurfaces in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared an Ebola outbreak after a case was confirmed in a town in the northwest of the country. The patient, a 31-year-old man, died in hospital on April 21, 2022 after fifteen days of treatment. More than 70 contact cases have been identified and are being monitored by health authorities to try to prevent the spread of this disease which has struck more than once in Africa. Here are three questions to learn more about this virulent virus.

1What is Ebola again?

First called hemorrhagic fever, Ebola is a serious, often fatal disease with a case fatality rate of up to 90%, as explained by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus first appeared in 1976 in Yambuku, a remote village near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Intrigued by this mysterious disease, the Congolese researcher Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum sends in a makeshift cooler a blood sample from a patient at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp in Belgium, where Dr. Peter Piot worked. The virus is then identified and named Ebola. Its origin is unknown, but currently available data seem to point to some bats as possible hosts.

2How do you catch Ebola?

The Ebola virus is transmitted to humans by infected animals or by the blood or other bodily fluids of infected people. It is in any case extremely contagious and is manifested by a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle and joint pain, headache and throat pain and sometimes even bleeding. Unlike Covid-19, there are no asymptomatic patients and the virus is extremely virulent and contagious. A person who dies from the disease keeps a very high viral load in their body and can contaminate those who come close to them if they do not take the necessary measures to protect themselves.

3Is there a vaccine against Ebola?

A vaccine developed in 2015 has been instrumental in combating the disease. It was first tested in Guinea Conakry, where it proved its worth during the major epidemic (2013-2016) that affected West Africa. Since then, the vaccine, marketed under the name Ervebo of the American group Merck & Co and another of the Johnson & Johnson group, has been used in the Democratic Republic of Congo to overcome two outbreaks, in the east and the northwest from the country. The Ervebo vaccine represents a “major progress” according to independent medical journal Prescribe which recalls that its duration of protection is not known. Its conservation is restrictive, which complicates its use in many countries. In addition, two treatments approved at the end of 2020 by the American Medicines Agency were considered 90% effective by the WHO, provided of course that the infected people are treated as soon as possible.