Ebola outbrak in east Congo; neighboring countries on alert

On 4 July 1976, Israeli commandos raided the airport at Entebbe, Uganda, rescuing more than 100 Israeli and Jewish hostages held there by Palestinian terrorists aided by Idi Amin’s government. Two days later, the New York Times editorial, titled “A Legend Is Born,” wrote that “The civilized world owes the Government and armed forces of Israel a permanent debt of gratitude for the courageously conceived and brilliantly executed rescue of more than 100 hostages from pro-Palestinian terrorists at Entebbe airport in Uganda early in the morning of appropriately enough America’s Independence Day.” The Entebbe airport is the news again, even if for more prosaic, but very serious, reasons: Deadly disease.

An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been confirmed by the World Health Organization in Kasai province, with at least 166 confirmed dead and 372 other cases reported. Specialist laboratories in Gabon and Atlanta, Georgia, confirmed Ebola from blood samples, saying they also showed the presence of Shigella dysentery. Ebola is highly contagious. People contracting the disease suffer severe stomach pain and internal bleeding. The fatality rate for Ebola, which has no known cure, is as high as 90 percent. The BBC reports that WHO and Medecins sans Frontieres have despatched medical personnel to help the Congolese contain the outbreak. An emergency response team of clinicians, water and sanitation experts, and logisticians is on the way to organise clinical care and establish appropriate isolation facilities. WHO has also requested additional support from the global outbreak alert and response network, and says specialized laboratories in Gabon, Canada, and the United States will share the analysis, especially since there could be a “possible concurrent outbreak of another etiology.”

It is three months since people started falling sick from a mystery virus in several villages around Kananga, the capital of West Kasai region. Several villages are under quarantine, but WHO says so far there is no need for any further restrictions on travel or trade with DR Congo. The incident is the worst for several years and is likely to have serious consequences for some time to come — even if the spread has been contained. It is thought to be transmitted through the consumption of infected bush meat and can also be spread by contact with the blood secretions of infected people. DR Congo’s last major Ebola outbreak killed more than 200 people in 1995 in Kikwit, about 250 miles west of the current outbreak. The last major incidence of the disease was in Uganda in 2001 when more than 400 cases were reported and more than half of the patients died.

Which brings us back to Entebbe: Uganda has issued a red alert to border posts neighboring the DR Congo and has instructed staff at Entebbe international airport to be on the look out for passengers who show symptoms of fever.