非洲風情：伊波拉病毒再度肆虐剛果（金）
- 5月28日
- 讀畢需時 3 分鐘
中非剛果民主共和國再次爆發伊波拉疫情，並蔓延鄰近東非烏干達。非洲聯盟旗下「非洲疾病預防控制中心」警告，周邊十個鄰國恐怕面臨伊波拉疫情擴散的風險。世界衛生組織列為「國際關注的突發公共衛生事件」，疫情風險評估上調至最高的「非常高」，全球風險水平仍「低」。
這次是剛果（金）第十七次爆發伊波拉疫情，從偏遠礦區蔓延至伊圖里省、北基伍省和南基伍省等。世衛認為，當地風土習俗及動盪政局影響防疫，其中在首名確診死者喪禮，由於弔唁者觸碰、擁抱及親吻遺體而導致擴散。伊圖里省政府禁止守靈習俗，及規定喪禮須由專業團隊進行。
剛果（金）的東北部醫療衛生體系脆弱，加上社區對醫護人員存有牴觸情緒，導致實施隔離救治及安全安葬等控疫措施的難度增加。在重災區伊圖里省，曾有醫院和治療營帳遭縱火，由於居民被拒領回疑似伊波拉親友死者的遺體，早在二零一八年及二零二零年另一波疫情時亦曾發生。
伊波拉病毒最早在一九七六年被發現，由於蘇丹及剛果（金）幾乎同時爆疫，病毒便以其中一處鄰近伊波拉河的疫區命名。伊波拉未曾波及全球，但在這半個世紀，病毒每隔幾年便以不同形態出現，至今發展成六個病毒株。最致命一次是二零一四年西非三國爆發，逾一萬一千人死亡。
這種病毒屬人畜共傳，傳染性相當高，可透過汗水、血液或排泄物等傳播。剛果（金）的疫情元兇是病毒株「本迪布焦（Bundibugyo）」，惟目前無有效檢測、治療方法或疫苗，各界正籌集資金抗疫，並加快研發治療藥物或疫苗。聯合國亦從中央應急基金，撥出六千萬美元支援控疫。
A New Ebola Outbreak Spreads through DRC
Epidemics of Ebola Disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern. The World Health Organization has upgraded the national risk assessment as “very high” in the DRC, “high” at the regional level and “low” at the global level. The Africa CDC has warned that other African countries were at risk from an outbreak.
This outbreak is the 17th to have emerged in DRC, spreading from remote areas to provinces, such as Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. Traditional burial rituals, which involve touching, washing, hugging, and kissing the deceased, is hampering the outbreak response. Authorities in Ituri have temporarily banned funeral wakes. Funerals and burials of suspected victims must be conducted by specialized health teams.
The local healthcare system faces structural vulnerabilities that weaken its ability to manage the outbreak. An angry crowd set alight a section of a hospital in the eastern DRC, after family and friends of a young man thought to have died from the Ebola virus were prevented from taking his body away for burial. During the massive outbreak in 2018 and 2020, hundreds of health centers were attacked due to the community's mistrust.
When the virus was first identified during outbreaks in 1976, scientists decided to name it after this nearby river to protect the local community from stigmatization. Among six distinct species of the Ebola virus that have been identified, Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo are responsible for the most severe human outbreaks. In the 2014 outbreak, three most severely affected countries in West Africa resulted in 11,310 deaths.
Ebola is considered to be an emerging zoonotic disease. Though it is not highly contagious in the way airborne viruses, it can spread through sweat, blood, and feces. While the active outbreak of the Bundibugyo ebolavirus is occurring ,there is no approved vaccine or direct cure. Its testing limitation even caused the initial spread to go unnoticed. The United Nation has ramped up $60 million from the emergency response fund to fight this deadly outbreak.
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