The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to worsen, with 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths reported as of June 11. The situation has sparked outrage and protests in Kenya over the United States’ response to the crisis.
According to health experts, the outbreak is already the third largest Ebola outbreak on record and could grow much larger if public health interventions are not implemented swiftly and strongly. Investigators with the DRC health ministry have identified what may have been an early superspreader event on February 4, which occurred at the funeral of a 44-year-old pastor in the remote gold-mining town of Mongbwalu.
The pastor was said to have died of a severe abdominal infection, which could have been a manifestation of Ebola. However, he was never tested for the virus. More than 80 people attended his funeral, and many relatives and community members fell ill in the following days. Within two weeks of burial, nearly 50 deaths were recorded in the town, and many of those had reported symptoms that could have been from Ebola, including fever, vomiting, and bleeding.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released modeling of how the outbreak could unfold, warning that if public health interventions are not implemented swiftly and strongly, the outbreak could rival or exceed the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. The CDC’s worst-case scenario projects more than 20,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths within just three months.
The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have weakened American contributions to the response effort. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s isolationist strategy involving travel restrictions and border closures has raised tensions in other countries. The administration is planning to prevent even US citizens from returning to the States if they have been exposed or infected with the virus.
The plans have sparked outrage and violent protests among Kenyans. According to reporting by The New York Times, protesters accuse Kenyan officials of bowing to Trump at the expense of allowing a deadly virus into the country, accepting Americans that America itself refuses to take in. “We are utterly disgusted by the government’s apparent willingness to trade national biosecurity and the lives of its citizens for foreign aid,” the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union said in a statement.
The Times reports that hundreds of people have gathered for protests in Nanyuki, the town closest to the air base. At least three protesters have been shot and killed in conflicts with police, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission. Although a Kenyan court had temporarily suspended the quarantine facility from opening, the Trump administration continues to move forward with the plans.
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