Ebola again raises its ugly head and has been reported in a major urban area in DR Congo

Doctors prepare to treat patients. BBC/AFP.

Ebola has once again broken out in Africa, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has already spread to a city with a population of 1 million people. BBC. Health organizations are downplaying the concerns as only one case has been found in the river port city of Mbandaka. A total of 45 cases and 25 deaths are being investigated. Up to 500 people may have been exposed to the virus and they are likely to receive the new experimental Ebola vaccine. The new cases come after a major outbreak in 2014 killed 11,000 people and spread through many countries before burning itself out. 

My Comment:

This story should cause some concern but as of this writing I think that the World Health Organization is correct. This has the potential to be a serious issue but I think that they should be able to handle the virus before it spirals out of control like it did in West Africa a couple of years ago. 

Already some of the lessons learned in that outbreak are being deployed in the DR Congo. The most encouraging news is that the vaccine is going to be deployed. The vaccine came out a little to late to have a major effect on the last outbreak but it could be a game changer this time. If used correctly it can prevent the virus from infecting people and will greatly limit how fast it can spread. It could very well be a trump card against Ebola and could potentially break this outbreak before it has a chance to get started. We have to remember though that the vaccine is new and that Ebola, like all viruses regularly mutate. But at least we have something that could help this time around. 

It also seems like people already know that they have to take Ebola seriously. It is good that people are avoiding contact with each other already and that businesses are setting up hand washing stations. Ebola mostly spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids, so these simple steps could save quite a few lives. That didn't happen until late during the last outbreak and it was a major reason why it spread so far so fast. 

This outbreak seems to have been caught early as well. The 2014 outbreak was allowed to spread unchecked for a short time which really caused the whole problem. It doesn't appear that will be the case this time. 

On the other hand, I am concerned that a major city could have been exposed. Mbandaka had one case and it has a population of 1 million people and is a trade hub. If a major outbreak were to occur there it could rapidly spread to other cities in the region, including the capital, Kinshasha. It could also spread across the globe, much like the last outbreak, as civilians travel and doctors, nurses and aid workers return home, threatening any country that accepts people from the DR Congo. 

Ebola can get really nasty when it gets into urban areas. Had the last outbreak been contained to villages and towns it would not have killed anywhere near the amount of people. Cities have a lot of people all crowded together, which gives the virus a good chance to spread. 

Thankfully, so far there has only been one case in Mbandaka. The doctors in the area will be working very hard to see who that person interacted with. They will give those people the vaccine and monitor them to make sure they don't get sick. If they do, they should be able to keep the virus contained. 

I really don't see Ebola making a comeback but the last time shook my faith in our ability to deal with a major outbreak. In the end we won over Ebola but there were a lot of stupid things that happened along the way. I am just hoping that we took those lessons to heart and this time around we do a better job.