Mysterious Ebola like illness in the Congo. Tests have ruled out Ebola and Marburg virus.
The impact of dramatic staff cuts at the CDC.
February 27, 2025 update: Since the beginning of 2025, The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been battling a series of concerning illnesses and community deaths. The situation is evolving, with distinct clusters emerging across different health zones. Just last week, the Basankusu health zone experienced a significant surge, with 141 new cases reported. There were no deaths recorded in the recent cluster yet but many diseases take longer than one week to lead to death. It’s still to early to assess death risk in the most recent cluster. Earlier in February, the same Basankusu health zone reported a severe outbreak of 158 cases, tragically resulting in 58 deaths. In January, the nearby Bolamba health zone saw 12 cases, with 8 fatalities. Considering the latest outbreak of 141 cases is only a week old, we’ll leave that out of this calculation. The overall fatality rate for the two outbreaks in January and earlier February is approximately 39%.
The illness presents with a broad range of symptoms, including fever, headache, chills, sweating, stiff neck, muscle and joint aches, runny or bleeding nose, cough, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Initial laboratory tests have ruled out Ebola and Marburg virus diseases, which is a crucial finding. Approximately half of the samples tested positive for malaria, a common ailment in the region, but this does not explain all the cases. There is the possibility of a co-infection of malaria and this new unknown virus.
Further testing is now underway to investigate the possibility of meningitis. To determine if environmental factors are at play, food, water, and environmental samples will also be analyzed for potential contamination.
TACT’s Overview:
We have slightly less immediate concern about this mystery virus due to the remote location and limited travel connections to major hubs. However, if a disease is highly contagious and containment efforts are lacking, it can quickly spread worldwide. If even a handful of individuals—whether containment personnel who are asymptomatic or unsuspecting travelers—pass through the area, they could be in the U.S. or the U.K. within 48 to 72 hours, assuming prearranged travel.
The key takeaway is that any new virus, regardless of its origin, can rapidly reach global destinations through modern air travel.
It is critical to identify the pathogen responsible for these deaths and enforce strict containment measures within the DRC. At the same time, we must remain vigilant in monitoring for potential spread, particularly from flights and connecting routes originating from the affected region. This includes close surveillance for Ebola, Marburg virus, and other emerging threats that could travel undetected across borders via air travel.
The ability to contain and prevent dangerous viruses from entering the U.S. is now in serious doubt as the Trump administration continues to destabilize government agencies, including the CDC. In February 2025, approximately 1,300 employees—about 10% of the agency’s workforce—were laid off. These cuts disproportionately impacted probationary employees, including nearly half of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), a critical unit responsible for outbreak investigations.
At a time when the nation faces mounting health threats—including a growing measles outbreak, the looming possibility of H5N1 mutating for human-to-human transmission, a surge in Flu A cases, and the ongoing COVID pandemic—the CDC is being dangerously weakened. While TACT has been critical of the CDC in the past for allowing political interference to hinder accurate and timely data, eliminating 1,300 vetted professionals—many of whom represent the next generation of public health experts—seems reckless given the severity of the challenges ahead.
The indiscriminate slashing of government jobs designed to protect public health, along with the dismantling of disease prevention programs worldwide, is a deeply troubling development. It is more important than ever to contact your elected representatives, especially Republicans who are passively enabling this overreach of executive power at the expense of public safety.
If there is any hope, perhaps a stronger and more effective CDC could emerge from the ashes of this purge. But as always, while we hope for the best, we must prepare for the worst by taking proactive action.
Coming up next: Be on the lookout for a comprehensive update on the measles outbreak in Texas and surrounding areas, with new cases popping up in Kentucky and New Jersey. This outbreak has tragically resulted in the first U.S. measles death in a decade. Meanwhile, RFK Jr.'s response at the President's Cabinet meeting press conference irresponsibly downplayed the severity of the outbreak, falsely claimed that hospitals were quarantining patients, and failed to outline any concrete government response or containment measures. Our update will break down the facts, expose the misinformation, and discuss the real public health consequences of this alarming situation. Stay tuned.
Reference for this article:
W.H.O. Regional Office for Africa, “Democratic Republic of the Congo deepens investigation on cluster of illness and community deaths in Equateur province”, February 27, 2025, Link
