Congo Rushes to Screen for Ebola as Death Toll Rises

Health workers raced Saturday to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the Democratic Republic of Congo's new Ebola outbreak. At least 80 deaths have been reported in the eastern Ituri province, authorities said. In Bunia, the province's capital, residents described their fears and and constant burials, the AP reports. "Every day, people are dying ... and this has been going on for about a week. In a single day, we bury two, three, or even more people," said Jean Marc Asimwe. "At this point, we don't really know what kind of disease it is." This is Congo's 17th outbreak since Ebola first emerged in the country in 1976.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare but severe and often fatal. The outbreak has spread to neighboring Uganda. On Saturday, people were being screened at the entrance of the Kibuli Muslim Hospital. Ismail Kigongo, who resides in Kampala, said the new outbreak reminded him of his father, whom he lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I really get scared because I remember burying my father without looking at his body," he said. Kenya, Uganda's neighbor, said Saturday that there is only a "moderate risk of importation" of the Ebola virus due to regional travel. Kenya's government said it has formed an Ebola preparedness team and has strengthened surveillance at all points of entry.

The aid organization Doctors Without Borders said it's preparing a "large-scale response" to the outbreak and expressed particular concern about the disease's rapid spread, per AFP. A New York doctor who has survived the disease said he's concerned for health care workers treating Ebola patients, per CBS News. Medical staff members are in "very close contact with people when they're most contagious," said Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency room physician and public health professor at Brown University.