‘Extraordinarily unlikely’ that Canada will have Ebola virus outbreak: infectious disease specialist

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]So far, about 177 suspected deaths have been linked to an outbreak with almost 750 suspected cases reported. The World Health Organization is warning those numbers are likely to rise. The vaccine uses the same technology that was developed by scientists in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ebola strain in the region has a fatality rate of 40%.

[00:00:25]Joining me now is infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch. Dr. Bogoch, good to see you. While researchers work on a vaccine, how concerned are you about the spread of the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

[00:00:38]Yeah, unfortunately, we're going to see those numbers rise. They're just scratching the surface now and detecting the scope of the issue. This was likely spreading for several weeks even before they discovered it, and we now know there are at least five cases in Uganda as well. So, you have a cross-border outbreak with a very severe infection in a a very challenging part of the world given the security situation there.

[00:01:02]Unfortunately, this is going to grumble along and be a much larger outbreak than the numbers currently suggest.

[00:01:08]What do you make of the measures currently being taken at Canadian airports?

[00:01:13]Well, I mean, we're not really doing all that much now. I think we hear that there are there's awareness among borders and for international travel. Uh but, I'm not entirely clear what the Canadian response is just yet. I'm pretty sure that they're aware that this is an issue and that this is going to continue to be an issue. There'll probably be some element of enhanced surveillance at the border. It's not entirely clear how that will evolve over time. How important is Canadian Canada's response to this to preventing an outbreak here?

[00:01:51]I It's extraordinarily unlikely that we'll have an outbreak in Canada. I think we always have to separate two things. One is what is the risk of importation and the second is if we do import a case, what is the risk of transmission in Canada? The risk of the importation is very small, but of course it's not 0%. The longer this outbreak continues in in Central Africa and the larger that outbreak gets, then the larger the probability of exported cases including to Canada will be.

[00:02:17]But, you know, if there is, you know, in an in a unlikely scenario, a case that lands in Canada, you know, we would not see a widespread outbreak like this in Canada.

[00:02:28]Our public health and medical facilities are such that we'd be able to detect and prevent further transmission. The the smartest thing to do is really focus all of the international efforts on quelling the outbreak there. It's the right thing to do, it's the humane thing to do and it also reduces the risk of exported cases.

[00:02:46]Now, testing is only being reserved for those showing symptoms. What are the symptoms associated with Ebola?

[00:02:54]>> [snorts] >> One of the issues is the long incubation period. It's up to 21 days.

[00:02:58]Most people, if they do develop symptoms, will start to develop symptoms at about 7 to 8 days following exposure.

[00:03:04]The first symptoms are pretty non-specific. Fever, fatigue, feeling generally unwell, muscle aches and pains and then after a few days, it's people can get very very sick very very quickly. There's nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, there's a easy tendency to bleed and something called multi-system organ failure, which as the name implies, can be very severe. People sadly succumb to a sepsis syndrome where they're not able to perfuse their organs with appropriate blood and oxygenation.

[00:03:31]In your view, would it be beneficial to test people not showing symptoms?

[00:03:39]No. I mean, listen, it's very different in Canada than in an outbreak setting. In an outbreak setting, you really have to work very closely with potential exposures. You test broadly. You ensure that people have appropriate access to medical care Uh and and you have to provide, pardon me, the potential to isolate should someone have a possible exposure. And of course, if they do end up having symptoms, enable to have a rapid turnaround test. But usually people who are sick with this infection will test positive.

[00:04:14]It's not like they're going to have prolonged symptoms and and continue to test negative until a test ultimately turns positive. It's pretty clear that this is an Ebola virus infection A clinically and B the test will be positive.

[00:04:28]All right, that is our time today, doctor. Thank you very much for yours.

[00:04:31]That is infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch.

[00:04:35]Thank you.