Ebola Information

Beginning in late 2002 and continuing in 2003, Ebola virus has been causing devastating mortalities in humans and wildlife in the northwest section in the Republic of Congo. As of mid-March, at least 100 people have died in the villages of Kelle and Mbomo. In a village-created protected area (the Lossi Sanctuary) located between these two villages, the death of hundreds of gorillas and chimpanzees is now being discovered. To date, gorilla mortality appears to be about half of the previously estimated population of 1200 living in and around the sanctuary.

In response to this tragic outbreak, an emergency workshop was held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on March 4-6, 2003 to bring together government authorities, NGO's (both conservation and human medicine) and virology experts to come up with immediate and long-term action plans to address the current Ebola Virus outbreak. The workshop was sanctioned by the Congolese Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Forests, with additional participants from the Ministry of Agriculture. Experts and representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Gabon also participated to provide insights from the previous outbreaks in those countries. Representatives from CDC, WHO, Doctors without Borders, WWF, and the Wildlife Conservation Society also participated. The workshop was organized by ECOFAC, a regional conservation program supported by the European Community, under the auspices of the Congolese government.

This workshop represented the first multi-disciplinary gathering of experts to address Ebola and the relationship of the health of humans and wildlife. In itself, this was a ground breaking step, shifting from the old paradigm of working in isolation to resources to building teams of collaborators for tackling complex issues of common concern. This approach lead to actions are now taking place in the field. But, much more needs to be accomplished to understand and fight the spread of Ebola and it's impact on people and wildlife, and support for these larger efforts must be identified and obtained.