Boat quarantined on DR Congo river amid Ebola scare after five deaths

Congolese authorities have quarantined a passenger boat on the Congo River while health officials screen everyone on board for Ebola and cholera after five people linked to the vessel died.

The Yingfeng 2, operated by a Chinese company, was intercepted near Bende Bende port, about 65km (40 miles) upstream from the capital, Kinshasa. The vessel was carrying 255 passengers.

Health Minister Roger Kamba said the screening was launched as a precaution after a passenger suffering from fever and diarrhoea, who had disembarked in Mongala Province, died in hospital. Two other adults, a three-year-old child and a newborn also died.

Teams from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the health ministry have boarded the vessel and established a mobile laboratory to carry out testing.

“For now, no one has tested positive, and it is likely no one will be positive after 21 days of incubation has elapsed,” Kamba told reporters.

He said the Yingfeng 2 departed from Mongala Province 22 days ago, adding that there had been no reported Ebola cases there, contrary to earlier reports. The passenger who later died had already been travelling on the vessel for several days before receiving treatment in the Pimu health zone.

The boat travelled more than 1,700km (1,056 miles) down the Congo River before it was intercepted.

Security authorities have been instructed to keep the vessel quarantined offshore in line with WHO guidance while public health teams continue monitoring passengers and crew to prevent any potential spread of disease into Kinshasa.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been battling its 17th Ebola outbreak since it was declared on 15 May. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which had not been detected for more than a decade.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain, although early-stage human trials of a candidate vaccine are under way in the United Kingdom.

More than three months after the outbreak began, official figures show 3,973 confirmed Ebola cases and 1,801 deaths, making it the country’s second-deadliest Ebola outbreak.