Ebola outbreak in West Africa: Tens of thousands of contacts of Ebola infected still unidentified

The outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo , specifically the Bundibugyo virus disease, has already caused 91 deaths in the country.

The latest data from the World Health Organization , released on June 6, shows there have been 515 confirmed cases in the country and 19 in neighboring Uganda, which has seen at least two deaths.

Isabel Brosius, an infectious disease specialist from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, is in DR Congo. She told DW that the outbreak is devastating a country that has been wracked by conflict on its eastern flank and several other significant public health threats.

" Ebola can be a very scary disease. So definitely, when this happens in a population that is not always super health-literate, that's a very scary thing. People start to wonder why is this happening or what caused it. And then if you have a deep-rooted mistrust in government or other actors and fake news or messages , it just adds on to the general sense of insecurity," she said.

Has Ebola affected the World Cup yet?

DR Congo qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 52 years back in April but their preparations for their opener against Portugal on June 17 have been impacted by the Ebola outbreak.

World Cup hosts the United States , where DR Congo is to be based, require all non-US citizens who have been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan to spend 21 days outside those countries and be symptom-free before they're permitted to enter the US.

Despite the outbreak being currently confined to the Ituri Province, in the country's north-east, the squad's training camp, slated for the capital Kinshasa, several thousand kilometers away in the west, was moved to Belgium, where the squad trained in a COVID-19-style "bubble." All of DR Congo's squad play their club football outside the country and reports suggest none of the players have visited of late.

A pre-tournament friendly against Chile, originally due to take place in Spain, will now be played behind closed doors in the French city of Orleans on Tuesday, after Spanish local authorities blocked the initial match on public health grounds. With many teams already in North America, DR Congo's arrival in Houston will give them relatively little time to acclimatize .

"The only thing I can say is that we're used to adapting, and whatever happens, we'll have no problem adapting to all these situations," DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre said.

Is there a danger of Ebola being spread at the World Cup?

According to Brosius, almost none. She emphasized that Ebola is "not transmitted through air droplets and requires close contact with a sick or deceased person or their contaminated environment," meaning a spread internationally or through travel is highly unlikely.

DR Congo is the epicenter of a serious Ebola outbreak Image: Jospin Mwisha/AFP

"Just as we saw in 2014-2016 with the biggest Ebola outbreak that we've seen yet, the capacity for international spread and establishing local transmission in other countries through air travel, etc..., is actually quite limited."

"The risk that random supporters that go to a match in one of the three host countries or the players come into contact with it is, I would consider, near zero," she added.

What is the position of the World Cup hosts on Ebola?

Cohosts the US, Canada and Mexico recently released a joint statement on the matter.  It emphasized "aligned public health travel measures for individuals coming from African regions at greatest risk from the Ebola virus" without going into too many specifics.

While the US has insisted on the 21-day rule, Canada has temporarily banned residents of the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan from entering the country for ⁠90 days and Mexico has introduced tighter Ebola screening measures at airports and mandated the 21-day quarantine.

What is the situation for World Cup fans from DR Congo?

Tournament organizers FIFA have said they are monitoring the spread of the disease but the quarantine restrictions mean very few fans would be able to travel, even if they can afford a ticket.

What makes this Ebola outbreak different

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As a result, Veron Mosengo-Omba, the president of DR Congo's football federation (FECOFA), has asked FIFA to refund affected fans.

"We asked FIFA if it is possible to take this into consideration, because the tickets are a little bit expensive," he told the BBC. "They are punished because they cannot get [into the United States] to see the World Cup to support their team.

"We don't want our supporters who love football, who love the World Cup, to lose everything."

FIFA have said they will look into the matter "in due course," according to the BBC.

Edited by: Chuck Penfold