The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported on Sunday that the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the current outbreak has reached 1,274, with 360 fatalities.
At least one of the new Ebola cases was recorded in the province of Haut-Uele, near the DRC’s borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).
This makes Haut-Uele the fourth Congolese province to report Ebola cases, following the original outbreak zone of Ituri and the neighboring North and South Kivu provinces. To date, about 90 percent of Ebola cases from the outbreak have been located in Ituri.
According to provincial health officials, the Haut-Elee case involved a person who traveled from Bunia, the capital city of Ituri province.
International health officials have long been worried about the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak spreading into South Sudan, which has a high degree of political instability and “some of the weakest public health infrastructure in the region,” according to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.).
W.H.O. published a study on Thursday that estimated a 70 percent chance of Ebola spreading into South Sudan. Researchers advised South Sudan to “reinforce infection prevention and control, rapid response capacity, and cross-border surveillance” to reduce its risks.
On Monday, DRC Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani banned mass gatherings in Haut-Uele, plus its neighbor provinces of Tshopo and Bas-Uele, as well as the national capital city of Kinshasa.
Opposition leaders criticized the order, accusing the government of using Ebola as an excuse to prevent protest marches, including a major rally scheduled for July 8.
“It is not legitimate. We cannot accept this decision,” said Prince Epenge, a spokesperson for the opposition Lamuka political coalition. Other opposition leaders told their followers to ignore the ban on public gatherings to attend the July 8 march.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its response level to the Ebola outbreak to Level 1 on Friday, the most severe warning level on the scale. CDC said the risk of Ebola transmission in the United States nevertheless remains low.