• Justus Nsio, Jimmy Kapetshi, Sheila Makiala, Frederic Raymond, Gaston Tshapenda, Nancy Boucher, Jacques Corbeil, Antoine Okitandjate, Gisele Mbuyi, Musa Kiyele, Vital Mondonge, Marie Jose Kikoo, Michel Van Herp, Philippe Barboza, Roberta Petrucci, Guido Benedetti, Pierre Formenty, Baby Muyembe Muzinga, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, Steve Ahuka, Hugues Fausther-Bovendo, Benoit Kebela Ilunga, Gary P Kobinger, and Muyembe Jean-Jacques T JT Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo..
• Ministry of Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• J. Infect. Dis. 2020 Feb 18; 221 (5): 701-706.

BackgroundIn 2017, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recorded its eighth Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, approximately 3 years after the previous outbreak.MethodsSuspect cases of EVD were identified on the basis of clinical and epidemiological information. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis or serological testing was used to confirm Ebola virus infection in suspected cases. The causative virus was later sequenced from a RT-PCR-positive individual and assessed using phylogenetic analysis.ResultsThree probable and 5 laboratory-confirmed cases of EVD were recorded between 27 March and 1 July 2017 in the DRC. Fifty percent of cases died from the infection. EVD cases were detected in 4 separate areas, resulting in > 270 contacts monitored. The complete genome of the causative agent, a variant from the Zaireebolavirus species, denoted Ebola virus Muyembe, was obtained using next-generation sequencing. This variant is genetically closest, with 98.73% homology, to the Ebola virus Mayinga variant isolated from the first DRC outbreaks in 1976-1977.ConclusionA single spillover event into the human population is responsible for this DRC outbreak. Human-to-human transmission resulted in limited dissemination of the causative agent, a novel Ebola virus variant closely related to the initial Mayinga variant isolated in 1976-1977 in the DRC.© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

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