China Assures Public Ebola Threat Low Despite Deep Belt and Road Ties to DR Congo

The Chinese state newspaper Global Times quoted an alleged “expert” assuring residents of the country that the threat of an outbreak of Ebola there remains low despite the close economic ties between the Communist Party and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) declared a public health emergency in the DRC in May after local authorities in eastern Ituri province began documenting an outsized number of cases of hemorrhagic fever that were ultimately identified as the Bundibugyo variant of Ebola virus. The unexpected variant meant that health officials took longer to identify the disease as Ebola, as patients tested negative for more common variants of the disease.

As of this weekend, the W.H.O. has documented 134 confirmed Ebola cases tied to the DRC outbreak, including nine in neighboring Uganda. Highlighting the degree to which the W.H.O. failed to monitor and contact trace in