Thirty one people are now known to have died and a further seventeen people have received hospital treatment in an outbreak of Ebola Virus in Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. The first reported case was a woman in the 34th week of a pregnancy, who was admitted to Bulape General Reference Hospital on 20 August 2025 suffering from high fever, bloody diarrhoea, haemorrhaging and extreme weakness, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization. This first patient died from multiple organ failure on 25 August, and was subsequently confirmed to have been infected with Ebola Virus through analysis of samples sent to the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in Kinshasa. Two healthcare workers who had come into contact with the patient also subsequently died of the Virus.
By the 4 September 28 cases of the Virus had been reported, with fifteen fatalities including four healthcare workers (a 54% case fatality ratio), all within the Bulape and Mweka health zones, with 80% of cases in persons above the age of fifteen. By 18 September 48 cases had been reported, with 31 known fatalities (a 64% case fatality ratio), and the Virus had spread to four healthcare districts.
Ebola Virus Disease is caused by RNA Viruses of the genus Ebolavirus (sometimes referred to as Orthoebolavirus because it belongs to the Kingdom Orthornavirae). It has a reputation for being the world's deadliest viral disease, at least in part due to the 1995 film Outbreak, though this is probably slightly inaccurate as about 50% of victims survive, making it less deadly than diseases such as Rabies. However, it is extremely contagious, with know known cure, and has a tendency to rapidly overwhelm local health systems as health workers themselves are infected.
Ebola begins with a fever similar to that caused by Influenza or Malaria, which tends to come on rapidly two-to-three weeks after infection (during at least part of which time the patient is already infectious). This tends to be followed by extreme respiratory tract infection, headaches, confusion, rashes and tissue necrosis and heavy bleeding. Death is generally caused by multiple organ failure.
The only known treatment for Ebola is intensive rehydration, which can improve the survival prospects of patients greatly, accompanied by anticoagulants and procoagulants to mange the diseases attacks on the circulatory system, analgesia to cope with the pain of the disease and antibiotics and antimycotics to prevent secondary infection. Due to the highly contagious nature of the disease it is recommended that healthcare workers wear full-body protection to maintain a barrier between them and their patients; a daunting prospect in the tropical regions of Africa where the disease is endemic. A vaccine is now available for the disease.
Ebolavirus is thought to have a non-human animal vector, since its rapid onset and high mortality rate appears to preclude a permanent residence within Human hosts. Surveys of wild animals have found Ebola infections in Rodents and Great Apes, however these were affected by the disease in a similar way to Humans, and are therefore unlikely permanent hosts. The most likely vectors are thought to be Fruit Bats or small Primates, which are endemic to the areas where the disease occurs and which are widely eaten; cooking meat probably kills the virus, but there is a distinct danger of infection while preparing carcasses.
Following the conformation that the outbreak in Kasai Province was caused by the Ebola Virus, the World Health Organization delivered 14 tonnes of emergency supplies to Bulape, including personal protective equipment, mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies. Additional medical personnel, experienced in dealing with Ebola outbreaks, have also been sent to the area by the Congolese Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and Medecins Sans Frontiers.
A specialist 34-bed Ebola treatment centre has been set up in Bulape, There are reported to be 2000 doses of Ebolavirus vaccine available in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which have been dispatched to Kasai Province, with the 523 front line healthcare workers having been the first recipients of the vaccines; a further 45 000 doses of vaccine are being sent to the area by international agencies. A testing lab has also been set up in Bulape, allowing for results to be obtained within 4-6 hours of samples being taken, as opposed to the 4-5 days needed to get a result from samples shipped to Kinshasa.
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