GoKawiilALIMA doctor details frontline response to DRC's Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak
An Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda on 15 May, with cases in the DRC reaching 7,890 and deaths around 3,799 by 23 September, a fatality rate near 48%. No licensed vaccine or treatment exists for this viral species, though two candidate vaccines and several experimental drugs are in clinical trials. Richard Kojan, an intensive-care physician with ALIMA, has been treating patients at treatment centres in the DRC, where symptoms mirror the more lethal Zaire Ebola species and many patients die of multi-organ failure after arriving in shock.
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The absence of approved vaccines or cures for the Bundibugyo species means frontline clinicians must rely on supportive care alone, which Kojan's account suggests is inadequate given the high fatality rate. The ongoing clinical trials could eventually offer tools against this less-studied Ebola strain, but until results emerge, health workers face the same high-risk conditions seen in earlier outbreaks. This situation underscores broader gaps in preparedness for rarer filovirus species compared with the more extensively studied Zaire strain.
- Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak declared in DRC and Uganda on 15 May, with a roughly 48% fatality rate in the DRC by September.
- No licensed vaccine or cure exists for this Ebola species; two vaccines and several drugs are still in clinical trials.
- ALIMA physician Richard Kojan describes treating patients in the DRC amid symptoms resembling the deadlier Zaire Ebola strain.
Source: nature.com — Hobson, 2026-10-07
Published there as: “Why we must advocate for proper care on the frontlines of the Ebola outbreak”
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