{"id":7956,"date":"2026-05-19T22:01:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7956"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:01:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:01:56","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-bundibugyo-virus-a-species-of-ebola-causing-an-outbreak-in-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7956","title":{"rendered":"What to know about the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola causing an outbreak in Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By DEVI SHASTRI, AP Health Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The virus causing an outbreak in Congo suspected of killing more than 130 people is less common than others that cause Ebola disease, which is complicating the response because there are no specific treatments or vaccines.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s nothing even close to ready for clinical trials,\u201d said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist who treated patients in West Africa during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. \u201cAnd so that means responders, healthcare workers and other aid workers are really back to the basics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Anne Ancia, a World Health Organization representative who spoke to reporters by video from Bunia in eastern Congo, said the Erbevo vaccine \u2014 which was used against a related virus that also causes Ebola disease \u2014 was among those being considered for possible use in the outbreak. But even if that vaccine \u2014 or another \u2014 was approved, it would take two months before it could be available.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about Bundibugyo virus, the rare species behind the outbreak.<\/p>\n

Bundibugyo virus has caused two other outbreaks<\/h4>\n

Bundibugyo virus has caused two other outbreaks, all in the same region of the Congo River basin, said Dr. Tom Ksiazek, a University of Texas Medical Branch virologist and veterinarian. He directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Special Pathogens Branch, which first identified the virus in 2007.<\/p>\n

Other viruses that cause Ebola disease are the Ebola virus (sometimes called the Zaire virus), the Sudan virus, and the Ta\u00ef Forest virus, which is not known to cause large outbreaks.<\/p>\n

How Bundibugyo virus is spread<\/h4>\n

The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients\u2019 bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, feces or vomit. Healthcare workers and family members caring for sick patients face the highest risk, experts said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSo very often we see doctors and nurses among the first to be infected and to die,\u201d said Gounder, editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News.<\/p>\n

Bundibugyo may be less lethal, but still extremely dangerous<\/h4>\n

From the few outbreaks health experts have seen, Bundibugyo might be slightly less deadly than Ebola virus or Sudan virus.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think a 30%-plus mortality rate is still quite scary, but it\u2019s hard to say with a lot of precision because we don\u2019t have a lot of experience,\u201d Gounder said.<\/p>\n

How to care for patients if there are no treatments or vaccines<\/h4>\n

In the other two Bundibugyo outbreaks, initial cases were identified early, Ksiazek said, allowing for a quick public health response: getting healthcare workers proper protective equipment, finding and isolating people who were exposed and offering supportive medical care to patients. Proper medical care \u201creduces mortality significantly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

That includes giving patients lots of IV or oral fluids, Gounder said.<\/p>\n

How public health workers are trying to contain the outbreak<\/h4>\n

Health workers are now working to find and isolate cases, trace their contacts and educate people about how to avoid the virus. In the West African Ebola epidemic, ensuring safe methods of burial was key to stopping the spread, said Gounder, because people were getting sick from preparing their loved ones\u2019 bodies for funeral rites. Making sure health workers have proper protective equipment is also critical, experts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, it\u2019s problematic because vaccines are some of our best tools for combating infectious diseases,\u201d said Lina Moses, an epidemiologist and disease ecologist at Tulane University. But other public health tools \u2014 public education, contact tracing, quick testing \u2014 still work, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to keep in mind that every single Ebola outbreak that has occurred in the (Democratic Republic of the Congo) \u2014 we\u2019re on our 17th now \u2014 has been stopped,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/em><\/p>\n

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