LAGOS – Russia declared its readiness Thursday to deploy specialist medical teams and advanced diagnostic assets to combat the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Uganda.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Moscow is deeply concerned by the cross-border surge. She emphasized that specialized health teams are prepared to assist in stabilizing the worsening regional crisis.
“Moscow is concerned about the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda and is ready to help resolve the crisis,” Zakharova stated during a press briefing.
The international intervention follows a formal declaration by the World Health Organization, which recently designated the fast-spreading African epidemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The latest epidemiological data indicates a severe escalation, with authorities tracking more than 650 suspected infections and 144 deaths tied to the highly lethal Bundibugyo strain across the region.
Medical experts are particularly alarmed by the geographic reach of the virus, which has already breached major urban centers including the Congolese capital of Kinshasa and the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Unlike the common Zaire strain of the virus, the currently circulating Bundibugyo species lacks a licensed, regulatory-approved vaccine or targeted therapeutic treatment, significantly elevating the risk of regional transmission.
Authorities in Uganda have placed more than 100 people under quarantine as the Bundibugyo species spreads.
This current crisis marks the 17 documented Ebola outbreak within the DRC, emerging a mere five months after local health authorities successfully contained the continent’s previous viral wave.
