Doctors treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the symptoms may be milder than in previous outbreaks of the disease.
There is too little data yet to be certain, but an assessment by the ministry of health in Congo suggests that about 90 percent of patients do not seem to develop the extensive internal and external bleeding that can arise in the disease’s horrific end stages, according to Dr. Marie-Roseline Belizaire, who leads the World Health Organization’s response to the outbreak. Some early data also suggests that fewer people may be dying this time compared with previous outbreaks.
Milder symptoms, and perhaps a lower chance of death, are undoubtedly good news for the patients. But they could paradoxically make it harder to control spread and end the outbreak.
“That’s really what I’m a bit anxious about, that this might be an indicator for an outbreak that lasts a lot longer,” said Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the executive director of the W.H.O. Health Emergencies Program.
The current outbreak, which was detected in mid-May, has already sickened more than 1,000 people and killed more than 250, according to Congo’s health ministry. The true numbers are likely much higher. Public health experts believe the outbreak simmered undetected for months; the milder symptoms may partly explain why.
The virus causing the outbreak, Bundibugyo, is distinct from the virus, often known as Zaire, that caused most previous epidemics of the disease. But all Ebola patients generally progress from what doctors call “dry” symptoms — fever, body ache, fatigue — to “wet” symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting.
