EU, G7 pledge support amid DRC Ebola outbreak

The European Commission said on Wedensday that it was building on a support program worth some €493 million (roughly $580 million) in humanitarian aid and health security amid the latest Ebola outbreak centered around Ituri province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This came a day after assembled leaders at the G7 summit in Evian, France appealed for a strong and coordinated international response to the outbreak, praising support efforts from the US, EU and others.

According to the DRC's government late on Tuesday, the outbreak of the comparatively rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebolavirus has led to 837 confirmed cases and 196 deaths — 29 of those cases in a period of 24 hours.

What did the EU say about its assistance program?

The European Commission said that its funds and aid was a mixture of "frontline medical support" for the immediate outbreak response, humanitarian assistance in the Great Lakes region and neighboring Uganda, vaccine and treatment research, and "longer-term work to improve prepardeness and health systems."

It said that European health authorities still deemed the risk to European citizens as low, but nevertheless officials stressed the importance of cooperation.

"This is a reminder that health security is shared security," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "Countries can better protect their citizens by acting together."

Hadja Lahbib, the relevant European Commissioner for crisis management, called the outbreak a "test of global solidarity."

"As some turn inward, the EU remains present, engaged, and a reliable partner," Lahbib said, before alluding to her recent visit to a treatment center in the outbreak area in DRC.

"In Bunia, I met doctors, nurses and frontline responders working under extraordinary pressure to save lives, as well as communities living with fear and uncertainty," she said. "But they are not facing this crisis alone."

Ebola response improves in Congo's Ituri province

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What did the G7 say about the outbreak?

G7 leaders gathered in the French Alps issued a joint statement calling for a "strong and coordinated response to address the health security risks" posed by the outbreak, which the World Health Organization has deemed a public health emergency of international concern.

Partner countries Egypt, India, Kenya and South Korea, whose leaders were guests at the summit, also supported the call, which expressed deep sadness for the loss of life and the strain on local communities.

"The current outbreak is centred in an isolated, conflict-affected area in DRC which makes containment, medical treatment and response logistics challenging," the G7 statement noted. "Existing vaccines, diagnostics, and therapies are not fully effective on the rare viral strain at issue."

Praising the existing US and EU programs aiming to support the local response, the international leaders called "on other countries and partners beyond the G7 to dedicate resources to tackling this global threat through the means they deem most appropriate."

What makes this Ebola outbreak different

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What is Ebola, and where is the oubreak located?

First identified in 1976, Ebola is a deadly viral disease spread primarily through direct contact with bodily fluids of symptomatic patients or the deceased. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure and is thought to originate in bats.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the Central African country. The deadliest claimed nearly 2,300 lives between 2018 and 2020.

Most of the cases in the current outbreak have been clustered around the east of the DRC, in a conflict-ridden gold mining hub near the border to Uganda.

Some cases have been recorded in Uganda as well, prompting a handful of countries to impose travel restrictions on it as well as the DRC. However, Uganda's government has said that these cases have been imported from DRC, arguing that it has the situation under control inside its borders.

"We therefore ​call upon ‌all countries that have imposed improper restrictions ​on ⁠Ugandans to lift them because ⁠Uganda has ​effectively controlled Ebola in the current outbreak," Vice President Jessica Alupo told a conference of African leaders and donors in Nairobi on Tuesday.

The Red Cross warned on Tuesday that the outbreak did not yet appear to have peaked.

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Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez