New Ebola outbreak hits Democratic Republic of Congo

Health officials in Africa are monitoring an Ebola outbreak in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Officials with the Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) say 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones of DRC’s Ituri province, with suspected cases also reported in Bunia. Preliminary lab results from the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) have detected Ebola in 13 of 20 samples, including four of the reported deaths. 

The agency said the INRB results suggest a non-Zaire ebolavirus, which has been the leading cause of Ebola outbreaks over the past 20 years. A 2018-2020 outbreak of Zaire ebolavirus in DRC resulted in more than 3,400 reported cases. 

Ituri province is in the eastern part of DRC, bordering Uganda and South Sudan, and more than 620 miles from the capital of Kinshasa. Africa CDC officials say they’re concerned about the potential for further spread because of dense urban populations in Rwampara and Bunia, population movement related to mining activity in Mongwalu, and refugee movement caused by ongoing conflicts in the region. 

“Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighbouring countries, rapid regional coordination is essential,” Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, said in a press release. “We are working with DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, and partners to strengthen surveillance, preparedness, and response, and to help contain the outbreak as quickly as possible.”

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected sick or dead person. The virus causes severe disease that starts with fever, aches, and fatigue and progresses to diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding.

Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighbouring countries, rapid regional coordination is essential.

The agency is convening a high-level coordinating meeting today with health officials from the three countries. Also attending will be experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, along with health officials from Europe, the United States, Canada, and China and executives from several pharmaceutical companies. 

The meeting will focus on “immediate response priorities, cross-border coordination, surveillance, laboratory support, infection prevention and control, risk communication, safe and dignified burials, and resource mobilization,” Africa CDC said.

WHO experts supporting DRC response

This is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976. The country’s most recent outbreak was declared over by the WHO on December 1, 2025, after sickening 64 people and killing 45. 

At a press briefing this morning, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said the DRC has a “strong track record” in Ebola response and control. He added that WHO experts have been in Ituri since the agency first received signals of suspected cases on May 5, and more will be arriving in the coming days to help with community engagement, surveillance, active case finding, contact tracing, and infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities.

“WHO will continue working to support the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring the Ebola outbreak under control,” Tedros said.

There are currently two licensed vaccines prequalified by the WHO for Ebola virus disease, both of which target the Zaire strain. A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that one of the vaccines—Ervebo, developed in Canada and made by Merck—cut deaths in half during the 2018-2020 DRC Ebola outbreak.

“As this outbreak unfolds, as more information becomes available, we are ready to provide those through mechanisms that already exist, should it turn out to be a strain where a vaccine can be used,” said Maria van Kerkhove, PhD, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.

There are no approved vaccines for the two other Ebola species known to cause outbreaks, Sudan and Bundibugyo.