Congo, Uganda ebola outbreak expected to be hard to contain

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:01]Testing for the rare strain of Ebola now underway not just in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but in neighboring Uganda where cases have been confirmed and in Goma, a rebel-held city in Congo close to the Rwandan border which is now closed.

[00:00:19]Dr. Samuel Kamba, the Congolese health minister, says treatment centers are being set up in the eastern Ituri province where the outbreak is thought to have originated.

[00:00:31]We know the hospitals are already under strain because of the patients, he says.

[00:00:36]I want to inform the population that we have 59 patients actively being treated.

[00:00:43]Suspicion that the outbreak went undetected for several weeks has heightened fears it will be hard to contain.

[00:00:51]Well over 300 suspected cases have been reported and more than 100 deaths.

[00:00:57]The World Health Organization has declared it an emergency of international concern and aid agencies hope for a response to match. Who has Ebola? Trish Newport is an emergency coordinator with Doctors Without Borders. What we're worried about is controlling the situation in the DRC right now. We really have to concentrate on getting surveillance into place, having all of the equipment that is necessary, engaging the community.

[00:01:25]And there is no vaccine for this strain of Ebola rarely seen.

[00:01:32]It's an epidemic that will spread very rapidly, says Ebola expert Jean-Jacques Muyembe, because it's broken out in a densely populated province where people are on the move.

[00:01:44]It's also in a conflict zone, increasing the risk health care workers already face. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids of the infected and fatality rates can be high. Global health experts say they're not worried about a pandemic at present, but the impact in the region is cause for serious concern.

[00:02:07]Margaret Evans, CBC News, London.