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This guy calls it a different unknown strain of ebola
Hes on a video and discovered the Zaire strain??
FM @TopCongo
Translated from French
« The current Ebola virus epidemic is of an unknown strain » The Ebola virus epidemic currently raging in the DRC and Uganda is a new strain that was previously unknown. It is not the Zaire, Sudan, or Bundibugyo strains. « It is also not the Taï Forest Ebola virus, which is very rare in humans », stated Professor MUYEMBE on TOP CONGO FM. The current strain has a lethality lower than that of the Zaire strain. Only the Zaire virus has a treatment and a vaccine, discovered by Professor MUYEMBE. To date, 91 people have died from this epidemic, the 17th since 1974. @lusakuenoc
This is an FM radio broadcaster. He is likely mistaken. UVRI in Kampala and INRB in Kinshasa have both confirmed Bundibugyo strain, and I trust them more than this radio program.
The genetics are in. It is Bundibugyo. Please see:
Initial genomes from May 2026 Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
hat tip@KrutikaKuppalli
Initial genomes from May 2026 Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda (https://virological.org/t/initial-genomes-from-may-2026-bundibugyo-virus-disease-outbreak-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-uganda/1032)
Ebolavirus (https://virological
I started this discussion thread with the 1st post because this journalist or his site are not known to us. He may be 100% correct. We just don't know.
Patrick is a nurse. On April 24, 2026, he developed symptoms in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fever. Fatigue. Vomiting. Signs that, at first glance, resembled malaria or the flu. Two days later, on April 26, Marie, a close friend, also fell ill. The same symptoms. The same rapid progression. On April 27, Patrick died in Bunia. On April 28, Marie also died. No one is calling the health authorities. In the community, these two deaths don't resemble an epidemic. They resemble a punishment. The story circulating is called "Tumu." A pastor supposedly burned fetishes. And according to local belief, this is what caused his death and that of his wife. The illness is mystical. It's not medical. People don't call the health center. They mourn. They touch the bodies. They gather together. Patrick's body was repatriated to the health zone of Mongwalu, a mining town 80 kilometers from Bunia. During the funeral ceremonies, relatives wept around him, touched him, and stayed close to him. Marie had been buried in the same way. Those who had accompanied them in death now unknowingly carried the virus. Throughout April, the virus spread silently through the community of Mongwalu. Africa CDC later estimated that there were four weeks of uncontrolled transmission before the first official alert. In one family in Mongwalu alone, 15 people died. Five of them had gone to attend a family gathering in Bunia. They returned sick and died within two weeks, all with the same symptoms: headaches, fever, and vomiting. On April 30, the authorities received the first signal. Tests were carried out in Bunia. The result was negative for the Zaire strain, the most well-known. The samples were sent to Kinshasa, to the national reference laboratory, the INRB. On May 5, an alert exploded on social media. Reports circulated of approximately 50 deaths in Mongwalu. Authorities verified the information, investigated, and deployed a team to the field. Days passed. On the evening of May 14, the INRB confirmed: it was Ebola. But not the Zaire strain. On May 15, genomic sequencing provided the definitive answer: it was the Bundibugyo strain. A strain for which there is neither an approved vaccine nor a specific treatment. The epidemic was officially declared. It was the seventeenth in the DRC since 1976. Meanwhile, the virus has followed the patients. Sick people from Mongwalu sought treatment in Rwampara, then in Bunia. Three health zones are now affected. And Patrick is no longer the only one who has traveled. Joseph was 59 years old. A Congolese national, he left Ituri and traveled to Kampala, Uganda. It is not known exactly when he left, with whom, or by what means of transport. It is known that he arrived at a hospital in the Ugandan capital on May 11, with a fever and respiratory distress. He died on May 14. Tests confirmed the Bundibugyo strain, the same as in the DRC. His body was repatriated to the DRC for burial that same day. Who travelled with Joseph from Ituri? Who took the same vehicle, the same boat, the same bus? Who treated him in Kampala? Who brought his body back? How was the burial organized? As of May 16, these questions remain unanswered. This is the case with Joseph, which changes the nature of the response. As soon as a second country is affected, responsibility shifts to Africa CDC at the regional and continental levels. Jean Kaseya, the institution's director general, says what the figures don't yet show: "We are facing situations where transmission must be quite significant." South Sudan is put on alert. Kenya forms a national preparedness team. The United States closes Ituri to its citizens. The United Kingdom contributes one million pounds to the WHO. Africa CDC brings together 130 partners in a single day. MSF prepares a large-scale response. Museveni convenes his epidemic task force in Kampala and says: "There is no cause for alarm." As of May 16, 2026, the provisional toll is 87 reported deaths, 13 laboratory-confirmed cases including 4 healthcare workers. Still no vaccine. Still no approved treatment. The story began with Patrick, a nurse who died in Bunia, whose body was repatriated to Mongwalu and started everything. Five weeks later, three countries are on alert.
The names have been changed to protect the identity of the individuals involved. Patrick, Marie, and Joseph are pseudonyms.
It's a virus that came out of the forest, never before seen in humans.
The complete genome sequencing, confirmed simultaneously by the INRB in Kinshasa and the Kampala laboratory, establishes that the Bundibugyo variant circulating in Ituri does not derive from either the 2007 Ugandan epidemic or the 2012 Isiro epidemic. It is a direct spillover, a transmission from animal to human from a still unidentified forest reservoir. Muyembe states this clearly: the nurse from Rwampara, who died on April 24, is probably not the index case. Someone else contracted the virus in the forest before him.
The field test is not designed to detect this virus.
The GeneXpert, a rapid diagnostic tool widely used in the DRC, is specific to the Zaire strain. When tested for Bundibugyo, it gave a negative result on all samples tested, including those confirmed positive by other methods. This is a technical limitation of the test, not human error. It contributed to the delayed detection, along with other factors: samples arriving in Kinshasa in small quantities and without adherence to cold chain requirements, an initial negative test in Bunia, and field teams trained to prioritize Zaire testing. Bundibugyo is circulating for only the third time in history. It is rare. And not all available tools are calibrated to detect it.
The epidemic is spreading: 6 areas affected
In a single day, the map of the epidemic has changed. Butembo-Katwa in North Kivu, Nyankunde in Ituri, and Goma have been added to the areas already affected. Six areas are now officially affected. Among the new confirmed cases is an American doctor, who tested positive in Bunia. The number of suspected deaths rose from 80 on Friday to 118 this Monday, according to government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya.
No vaccine, no treatment. And the tools used against Zaire are probably useless.
Bundibugyo has no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Muyembe is clear: being vaccinated against Ebola Zaire probably does not protect against this variant. There is no evidence of cross-protection. Treatment is palliative. Molnupiravir is being considered as a possible treatment, pending WHO approval. Vaccine candidates and molecules could be submitted for clinical trials by the end of May or early June, according to Muyembe.
The international response is toughening, but resources are lacking on the ground.
The WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17. The AU, the EAC, the Africa CDC, and the World Bank are mobilized. The United States has suspended all visa operations in Kampala. But in Mongwalu, an MSF doctor says there is a shortage of everything: medicine, protective equipment, and epidemiologists. Oxfam goes further: cuts in humanitarian aid have weakened surveillance systems and delayed the detection of the epidemic by several weeks. This is the central tension of this crisis. The mobilization is real. The resources on the ground are not yet keeping pace.
PL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Nyankunde, the story of Peter…
Peter Stafford is a doctor. American. Since 2023, he has lived and worked in Bunia, in the Ituri province, with the American Christian missionary organization Serge, based in Pennsylvania. His wife, Rebekah Stafford, is also a doctor. The couple lives there with their four children. A third missionary doctor, Patrick LaRochelle, also works with them.
On May 15, health authorities officially declared a new Ebola outbreak in Ituri. Meanwhile, the three doctors continued to treat patients in the region.
Peter Stafford works at the hospital in Nyankunde. Not in Mongbwalu, the official epicenter located about 80 kilometers northwest of Bunia. In Nyankunde, in the Irumu territory, about 45 kilometers southwest of Bunia, at the seat of the Andisoma chiefdom.
At the start of the outbreak, Nyankunde was not among the officially affected areas. This Monday, the government officially confirmed that the area is now affected. Two weeks after the outbreak was declared, Ebola reached a hospital located less than fifty kilometers from Bunia.
Peter Stafford developed symptoms. He was tested under the supervision of the Africa CDC, in partnership with the WHO. The result was positive for the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus.
Rebekah Stafford and Patrick LaRochelle remain asymptomatic. All three doctors are adhering to quarantine protocols.
Peter Stafford is not the first healthcare worker affected by this outbreak. Since the beginning of the epidemic, of the 13 laboratory-confirmed cases, four have already involved Congolese healthcare workers. Four healthcare workers have died in Mongbwalu.
What Peter Stafford encountered in Nyankunde is something Congolese doctors and nurses have been facing since the early days of the epidemic.
Patient Ligodi , born on February 18, 1984 in Goma , is a Congolese journalist .
He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Actualite.cd . He is also a permanent correspondent for Radio France Internationale in the Democratic Republic of Congo [ 1 ] . He also works for several other media outlets, including Reuters [ 2 ] , Le Monde [ 3 ] , Vatican Radio , and RTBF [ 4 ] , as a correspondent in Central Africa. An entrepreneur in the media sector, he founded and managed the radio station Univers FM [ 5 ] , deskeco.com [ 6 ] , and desknature.com [ 7 ] . He is also a co-founder of the online media outlet Politico.cd. He initiated and co-founded the Association of Online Media of the DRC (MILRDC) [ 8 ] , of which he was the first president.
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