{"id":3988,"date":"2026-08-06T17:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=3988"},"modified":"2026-08-06T17:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:00:02","slug":"ebola-virus-behind-massive-outbreak-in-drc-could-be-mutating-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=3988","title":{"rendered":"Ebola virus behind massive outbreak in DRC could be mutating, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"87386927-dd9b-4002-9caf-2ecff282dd8c\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Members of a Congolese Red Cross team covered in yellow and white PPE carry a coffin\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ed98f2b523345f1bc88d699c4fe06ba5b94e7248\/322_60_2855_2283\/master\/2855.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.8371278458844\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Members of a Congolese Red Cross team with the coffin of a woman suspected of having died from Ebola virus in Bunia last June.<\/span> Photograph: Jospin Mwisha\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"87386927-dd9b-4002-9caf-2ecff282dd8c\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Members of a Congolese Red Cross team with the coffin of a woman suspected of having died from Ebola virus in Bunia last June.<\/span> Photograph: Jospin Mwisha\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Ebola virus behind massive outbreak in DRC could be mutating, officials say<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Cases have passed 4,000 and health watchdog plans to go door to door to find patients in major response escalation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/congo\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a> could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Africa\u2019s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect of the response and go \u201cdoor to door\u201d looking for patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ebola\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Ebola<\/a> outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, was first reported on 15 May, although there are suspicions the disease could have been spreading since January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">There have been <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Com_mediasRDC\/status\/2085261266021478891\/photo\/3\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">3,973 cases and 1,801 deaths<\/a> recorded as of 4 August, according to the DRC\u2019s national public health institute. Speaking on Thursday, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a press briefing cases had topped 4,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The outbreak is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. There are eight times more cases, and six times more deaths than were recorded 11 weeks into the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014-18, which infected more than 28,000 people and killed at least 11,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Kaseya said he had spoken to the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and they planned studies \u201cto check if there is no additional issue, or maybe if the virus is not mutating. Because the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/jul\/31\/ebola-outbreak-in-drc-the-fastest-growing-in-the-history-of-the-virus\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">level of severity<\/a> of this Bundibugyo outbreak is unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">More than two-thirds of Ebola deaths are happening in the community rather than in treatment centres. In a treatment centre run by MSF in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, 90% of admitted patients do not appear on authorities\u2019 lists of contacts of known cases. Both factors indicate high levels of untracked transmission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Kaseya said contact tracing in the DRC was insufficient, with only 10 contacts identified for every Ebola patient, when about 40 would be the expected number.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, organ damage and internal bleeding. The outbreak is centred on the conflict-affected mining province of Ituri, but has spread to Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo. There were 20 cases recorded in neighbouring Uganda before it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/jul\/16\/uganda-travel-restrictions-last-ebola-patient-discharged\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">brought its outbreak under control<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Dr Wessam Mankoula, acting head of emergency preparedness and response at Africa CDC, said response teams planned a shift \u201cfrom contact tracing to active case search\u201d, which would mean community health workers \u201cmoving from door to door\u201d asking households if they had anyone sick with Ebola symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">He added: \u201cI think the time for incremental action is over and we\u2019re starting now the phase for scaling up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Kaseya promised a \u201cvillage-centered response\u201d that would involve communities, more use of digital tools and greater action in the camps for people who have been internally displaced by conflict in affected provinces.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Officials also said they planned to begin using antiviral remdesivir on a compassionate use basis to treat patients. They will also start testing whether Ervebo, a vaccine licensed for use against a different strain of Ebola, should be offered in the affected province, after receiving data suggesting that Bundibugyo caused less serious disease and \u201czero death\u201d among people who had received that jab.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cSeeing the expansion of this outbreak, only the public health measure will not be enough to quickly control or stop this outbreak,\u201d said Dr Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC director of research, clinical trials and innovation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">DRC authorities said they were investigating a suspected Ebola death on a boat heading to the capital, Kinshasa, from the north-east of the country, and that the other passengers on board would be quarantined and tested.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Unicef warned that essential healthcare was being disrupted by the outbreak as fear of infection and service disruptions kept families away from clinics. In the outbreak\u2019s centre, the mining town of Mongbwalu, the proportion of children receiving their first measles dose has fallen 69%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/ebola\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Ebola<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/congo\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/africa\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Africa<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Ebola%20virus%20behind%20massive%20outbreak%20in%20DRC%20could%20be%20mutating,%20officials%20say&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/aug\/06\/ebola-virus-drc-mutating?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2026%2Faug%2F06%2Febola-virus-drc-mutating&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=world\/2026\/aug\/06\/ebola-virus-drc-mutating\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1kq7f60\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of a Congolese Red Cross team with the coffin of a woman suspected of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3990,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions\/3990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}