2026年5月16日 美国东部时间12:13 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
当局表示，刚果东部伊图里省新增埃博拉疫情已报告至少80人死亡，医护人员周六加紧开展筛查和接触者追踪工作以遏制疫情扩散。
官员们于周五首次宣布此次疫情，当时已有65人死亡、246例疑似病例。伊图里省首府布尼亚的居民表示，在频繁的下葬活动中他们 lives 惶恐不安。
“每天都有人死亡……这种情况已经持续了大约一周。一天之内我们就要下葬两、三名甚至更多逝者，”布尼亚居民让·马克·阿西姆韦说道。
刚果卫生部长塞缪尔-罗杰·坎巴周五晚间表示，目前已有8例实验室确诊病例，其中4人死亡。
检测结果确认此次疫情为本迪布焦病毒，这是埃博拉病毒的一个变种，在刚果以往的疫情中较为少见。这是自1976年埃博拉病毒在刚果首次被发现以来，该国第17次暴发埃博拉疫情。
埃博拉病毒传染性极强，可通过呕吐物、血液或精液等体液传播。该疾病罕见，但病情严重且通常致命。
据哥伦比亚广播公司医疗记者塞琳·贡德博士介绍，本迪布焦病毒此前仅引发过两次埃博拉疫情。一次是2007年在乌干达，造成55人感染；另一次是2012年在刚果，造成57人感染。贡德博士表示，目前尚无针对该埃博拉毒株的获批疫苗或治疗方法，并指出“医疗专业人员对遏制疫情的可能性和能力深感担忧”。
坎巴称，此次疫情的疑似指示病例是一名在布尼亚一家医院去世的护士，该病例可追溯至4月24日。
他未透露是否已对该护士的样本进行检测，但表示该患者出现了疑似埃博拉的症状。
一名10多年前感染埃博拉并康复的纽约医生周五对哥伦比亚广播公司表示，他“非常担心”救治埃博拉患者的医护人员。布朗大学急诊医师、公共卫生教授克雷格·斯宾塞博士表示，医护人员“在患者传染性最强的时候与其密切接触”。
疫情蔓延至邻国乌干达
乌干达周五确认一例埃博拉病例，当局称该病例为“输入性”，来自刚果。该患者于5月14日在乌干达首都坎帕拉的基布利穆斯林医院去世。
非洲疾病预防控制中心表示，由于受影响地区与乌干达和南苏丹毗邻，疫情进一步扩散的风险令人担忧。
据法新社报道，医疗援助组织无国界医生表示，他们正在筹备“大规模应对行动”，并称疫情的快速传播“极其令人担忧”。
乌干达卫生部表示，在坎帕拉去世的患者遗体后来被运回刚果，目前尚未确认其他本地病例。
周六，人们在基布利穆斯林医院入口处接受筛查。
居住在坎帕拉的伊斯梅尔·基贡戈表示，此次新疫情让他想起了自己在新冠疫情期间去世的父亲。“我真的很害怕，因为我记得当时连父亲的遗体都没来得及看一眼就下葬了，”他说道。
乌干达的邻国肯尼亚周六表示，由于区域旅行，埃博拉病毒“输入风险中等”。肯尼亚政府表示已组建埃博拉防控小组，并加强了所有入境口岸的监测工作。
后勤挑战加剧疫情防控难度
刚果在疫情期间向受影响地区输送专业人员和物资时经常面临后勤难题。
作为国土面积第二大的非洲国家，刚果各省之间距离遥远，且大多饱受冲突困扰。例如，伊图里省距离首都金沙萨约620英里，该地区正遭受伊斯兰国支持的武装分子的暴力破坏。
世界卫生组织卫生紧急警报和应对行动主任阿卜迪·拉赫曼·马哈茂德博士在周五的新闻发布会上表示：“我们非常清楚，刚果有应对经验，但此次疫情发生的地区局势高度动荡，人道主义局势持续恶化，人口从南苏丹流向乌干达和其他地区。”
截至目前，疫情已在伊图里省的三个卫生区得到确认，包括首府布尼亚以及疫情集中的鲁安帕拉和蒙格瓦卢地区。
国家生物医学研究所仅对13份血液样本进行了检测，其中8份本迪布焦毒株检测呈阳性。卫生部长表示，其余5份样本因样本量不足无法进行分析。
周五，伊图里省主要城市布尼亚的企业和公共场所的日常活动似乎一切正常。
居民阿德琳·阿韦科农穆古表示，她希望疫情能得到快速控制。“我的建议是政府认真对待此事，接管医院，这样才能控制住局面，”她说道。
美国应对措施仍存疑问
美国过去一直是埃博拉疫情应对行动中最大的外部参与者，但专家们担心特朗普政府对美国国际开发署的削减以及美国退出世界卫生组织可能会影响此类应对工作。
斯宾塞表示，美国目前没有能力快速应对全球疫情。他对哥伦比亚广播公司表示，美国国际开发署的关停与此次疫情直到周五才公布可能存在关联。
“在特朗普第二届政府就职前，美国国际开发署会立即奔赴现场，”斯宾塞说道。“疾控中心也会随时待命，甚至可能在新的埃博拉疫情暴发前就采取行动，因为我们在许多国家都有部署，之前就建立了合作关系。”
斯宾塞还指出了大流行防范和应对办公室以及其他卫生机构的人员缺位问题。不过他表示，美国仍有能力应对此次疫情。
埃博拉“传播能力并没有那么强”，他并以美国对荷兰邮轮上一起罕见汉坦病毒致命疫情的应对为例进行了说明。
“过去几周我们看到，美国在内布拉斯加州设立的国家检疫单元以及全美十几个能够处理汉坦病毒和埃博拉等极高风险病原体的中心，”斯宾塞说道。“这些都是我们国家做出的承诺，部分原因尤其是因为十年前像我这样的病例。”
Frequent burials and at least 80 dead as Congo grapples with Ebola outbreak
May 16, 2026 12:13 PM EDT / CBS/AP
At least 80 deaths have been reported in Congo’s new Ebola disease outbreak in the eastern Ituri province, authorities said, as health workers raced Saturday to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the disease.
Officials first announced the outbreak on Friday, with 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases. Locals in Ituri’s capital, Bunia, said they were afraid for their lives amid frequent burials.
“Every day, people are dying … and this has been going on for about a week. In a single day, we bury two, three or even more people,” said Jean Marc Asimwe, a resident of Bunia.
Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said late Friday there have been eight laboratory-confirmed cases, and among them four deaths.
Test results confirmed it is the Bundibugyo virus, a variant of the disease that has been less prominent in Congo’s past outbreaks. This is Congo’s 17th outbreak since Ebola first emerged in the country in 1976.
A general view of Bunia, Congo, Friday, May 15, 2026. Associated Press
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.
The Bundibugyo virus has only been responsible for two previous Ebola outbreaks, according to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder. One, in Uganda in 2007, resulted in 55 cases. The other, in the Congo in 2012, resulted in 57 cases. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for this strain of Ebola, Gounder said, noting “medical professionals seem very concerned about the possibility or the ability to contain this.”
The suspected index case in the latest outbreak is a nurse who died at a hospital in Bunia, Kamba said. He said the case dates back to April 24.
He did not say whether samples from the nurse were tested, but said the person presented symptoms suggestive of Ebola.
A New York doctor who contracted and survived Ebola more than 10 years ago told CBS News on Friday that he is “really concerned” for healthcare workers treating Ebola patients. Medical staff have “very close contact with people when they’re most contagious,” said Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency room physician and public health professor at Brown University.
Outbreak spreads to neighboring Uganda
Uganda confirmed Friday an Ebola case that authorities said was “imported” from Congo. The person died at the Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, on May 14.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had said it is concerned about the risk of further spread due to the proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan.
Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said it was preparing a “large-scale response” and called the rapid spread of the outbreak “extremely concerning,” according to the Agence France-Presse.
The body of the patient who died in Kampala was later taken back to Congo and no other local case has been confirmed, Uganda’s health ministry said.
People meet at the Ituri Provincial Health Directorate for the first Ebola response meeting in Bunia, Congo, Friday, May 15, 2026. Jorkim Jotham Pituwa via AP
On Saturday, people were being screened at the entrance of the Kibuli Muslim Hospital.
Ismail Kigongo, who resides in Kampala, said the new outbreak reminded him of his father, whom he lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I really get scared because I remember burying my father without looking at his body,” he said.
Kenya, Uganda’s neighbor, said Saturday there is only a “moderate risk of importation” of the Ebola virus due to regional travel. Kenya’s government said it has formed an Ebola preparedness team and has strengthened surveillance at all points of entry.
Logistical challenges complicate outbreak management
Congo often faces logistical challenges in delivering expertise and supplies to affected regions during disease outbreaks.
As Africa’s second-largest country by land area, Congo’s provinces are far from one another and mostly battling conflict. Ituri, for instance, is around 620 miles from the nation’s capital, Kinshasa, and is ravaged by violence from Islamic State-backed militants.
“What we know very well [is] that the country has experience, but the region where it is happening is highly volatile with the humanitarian situation going on and the population moving around from South Sudan to Uganda and other parts,” said Dr. Abdi Rahman Mahamud, World Health Organization director of health emergency alert and response operations, during a news conference Friday.
The disease has so far been confirmed in three health zones in Ituri province, including the capital city, Bunia, and the areas of Rwampara and Mongwalu, where the outbreak is concentrated.
A health official uses a thermometer to screen people in front of Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, May 16, 2026. Hajarah Nalwadda via AP
Only 13 blood samples have been tested at the National Institute of Biomedical Research; eight tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain. The remaining five could not be analyzed due to insufficient sample volume, the health minister said.
In Bunia, Ituri’s main city, businesses and regular activities in public places appeared normal on Friday.
Resident Adeline Awekonimungu said she hopes the outbreak is quickly contained. “My recommendation is that the government take this matter seriously and that it takes charge of the hospitals so that this matter can be brought under control,” she said.
Questions about U.S. response remain
The U.S. has been the single largest external player in Ebola outbreak response in the past, but experts worry the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and its withdrawal of the country from the WHO may impact such efforts.
Spencer said the U.S. does not have the capacity right now to respond quickly to global outbreaks. He suggested to CBS News there may be a connection between the shutdown of USAID and the fact that the latest outbreak was not announced until Friday.
“Before the second Trump administration, USAID would have been on the ground,” Spencer said. “The CDC would have been on the ground at a moment’s notice, maybe even before a moment’s notice, of a new outbreak of Ebola because we were in a bunch of countries. We created relationships beforehand.”
Spencer also pointed to absences in the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response and other health agencies. However, he said the U.S. is still capable of dealing with the outbreak.
Ebola “is not that great at spreading,” he said, and highlighted the United States’ response to a deadly outbreak of a rare strain of hantavirus aboard a Dutch cruise ship.
“We’ve seen over the past couple weeks with the national quarantine unit we have in Nebraska and the over-a-dozen centers that we have around the U.S. that are capable of taking care of very high consequence pathogens like hantavirus and Ebola,” Spencer said. “These were all commitments that we made as a country, particularly and partly because of cases like my own a decade ago.”
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