Ebola strain in deadly new Congo outbreak has no vaccine

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:01]The Democratic Republic of Congo is no stranger to Ebola after facing more than a dozen outbreaks in recent decades, but a massive new one is testing the country's capacity to contain this deadly viral infection. African health officials are reporting at least 246 suspected cases and 67 deaths in Congo.

[00:00:23]The outbreak is concentrated in one of the country's northeastern provinces and on Friday neighboring Uganda also announced an Ebola infection imported from Congo. That individual died in hospital on Thursday. It's a very densely populated area and this naturally increase the transmission rate.

[00:00:43]The World Health Organization is deploying workers and supplies, but expects major challenges in tackling the outbreak. The region where it is happening is highly volatile with a humanitarian situation going on and the population moving around.

[00:00:59]Tests also show this is a rare strain of Ebola, one that doesn't have a vaccine.

[00:01:05]The stockpile of vaccine that they use for ring vaccination strategies for control of outbreaks is not going to be relevant. Ebola can cause severe hemorrhagic fever, multi-organ failure, and high rates of death. The virus is highly contagious through infected bodily fluids. The biggest thing right now is is getting those contacts identified, right? This Canadian microbiologist has worked on the ground during past Ebola outbreaks. He says his colleagues in Africa are racing to get the current crisis under control. We're all trying to be as optimistic as we can, uh but also seeing, you know, a lot of cases grow very quickly. Uh it's uh it brings about a a certain amount of concern in our minds.

[00:01:47]African health officials are now calling on the world to help, including their counterparts here in Canada. Lauren Pelley, CBC News, Toronto.