DRC Ebola outbreak reaches 676 cases as Kenya protests US quarantine plan

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has grown to 676 confirmed cases, according to the country’s public health authorities, raising concern that the virus spread for months before officials announced the outbreak. The response has also become a diplomatic flashpoint in Kenya, where reported US plans for a quarantine site have drawn protests.

DRC’s National Institute of Public Health reported 136 deaths and 119 suspected cases as of Thursday, June 11. Uganda’s health authorities reported 19 confirmed cases and two deaths.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebolavirus, Ars Technica reported. The outbreak is already the third largest recorded Ebola outbreak, and health experts cited by Ars Technica have warned that it could expand further if control measures lag the spread.

Reuters reported Thursday that investigators from DRC’s health ministry are trying to identify the first case. The inquiry has focused on the Feb. 4 funeral of a 44-year-old pastor in Mongbwalu, a remote gold-mining town, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, the pastor was said to have died from a severe abdominal infection, a condition that could have been linked to Ebola, but he was not tested for the virus. More than 80 people attended the funeral, Reuters reported, and relatives and other residents became sick afterward.

Reuters reported that nearly 50 deaths were recorded in Mongbwalu within two weeks of the burial. Many of those who died had symptoms consistent with Ebola, including fever, vomiting and bleeding, according to the news agency.

CDC modeling warns of a wider outbreak

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released modeling on how the outbreak could develop. The CDC found that a delayed or weak public health response, including limited contact tracing and case isolation, could allow the outbreak to approach or surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

That earlier epidemic remains the largest on record, with more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths, according to the CDC modeling summarized by Ars Technica. In one severe scenario examined by the CDC, with only 20% of cases isolated, most simulations produced more than 20,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths within three months.

Ars Technica reported that US support for the response has been weaker and slower than in previous Ebola outbreaks after the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development. The Trump administration has also pursued travel restrictions and border closures tied to the outbreak, according to Ars Technica.

Kenya protests over US quarantine plan

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration is preparing to bar even US citizens from returning to the United States if they have been exposed to or infected with Ebola. Instead, US officials are seeking to establish a temporary quarantine facility at a military base in Kenya, a country that has not reported cases in the outbreak, according to the Times.

The plan has prompted anger and violent demonstrations in Kenya, the Times reported. Protesters have accused Kenyan officials of accepting risk on behalf of the United States, which the protesters say is refusing to take in its own citizens, according to the newspaper.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union said in a statement that it was “utterly disgusted” by what it described as the government’s willingness to trade public safety for foreign aid. The New York Times reported that hundreds of people have protested in Nanyuki, the town nearest the air base.

At least three protesters have been shot and killed in clashes with police, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, as reported by the Times. A Kenyan court temporarily blocked the quarantine facility from opening, but Ars Technica reported that the Trump administration has continued advancing the plan.

This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.