While we were busy evacuating the passengers and crew of a Dutch cruise ship due to an outbreak of a pathogen called hantavirus, a new Ebola epidemic was being confirmed in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We learned that hantavirus is transmitted by rodents, can be fatal, but does not have pandemic potential. Ebola, however, is an old acquaintance, with more than 30 outbreaks in Africa since its discovery in 1976. Although it is a high-risk virus, and one of the 34 that the WHO closely monitors, it may remain a local epidemic.
For now, it is under control. Since this Ebola outbreak was officially declared on 15 May, more than 344 cases and 60 deaths have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In neighbouring Uganda, there are 15 infections and one death. An American citizen infected in the DRC is receiving medical attention in Germany. What heightens the risk of this epidemic is the Bundibungyo strain, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment, in one of the areas with the highest food insecurity in the world. In the Ituri region, 1.5 million people are facing food insecurity, and one in three people needs humanitarian aid, according to data from Action Against Hunger.
Until 2014, Ebola outbreaks were small clusters in rural areas, and investment in the fight against the virus was hardly significant. The dynamic changed that year when it exploded in West Africa, mainly in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, lthe deadliest Ebola epidemic in history. When the outbreak was declared controlled in 2016, there had been more than 28,600 cases and around 11,300 deaths. The scale of the outbreak managed to mobilise over one billion euros in international financial and humanitarian assistance.
The next virus that will threaten humanity does not yet have a name or date, but it is known that it will arrive. The WHO is trying to control those that have the greatest potential to escalate to a pandemic due to their high transmissibility, lethality, ease of mutation, and lack of treatment. The most dangerous are respiratory viruses like avian influenza, a variant of influenza A, and the coronaviruses that cause MERS and SARS. Also the Middle East respiratory syndrome. The WHO is also monitoring another 34 pathogens less well known, currently posing no risk but that may mutate.