Ebola Returns to Eastern DRC With 65 Deaths Reported
Health authorities across Africa have confirmed a new Ebola virus disease outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, raising fresh alarms over cross-border transmission risks as regional governments scramble to contain the spread.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) announced the outbreak on Friday, confirming it had struck Ituri Province in the country’s volatile east. “Ebola Virus Disease outbreak confirmed in Ituri Province,” the pan-African health agency stated in an official social media release.
According to CDC Africa, at least 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have so far been reported, with “four deaths reported among laboratory-confirmed cases.” The agency added that it was “closely monitoring the situation and convening an urgent high-level coordination meeting today with the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan and global partners to reinforce cross-border surveillance, preparedness and outbreak response efforts.”
Ebola is one of the world’s most feared infectious diseases. First identified in 1976 and believed to have originated in bats before crossing into human populations, the virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons and causes catastrophic symptoms including severe internal bleeding and multiple organ failure. The haemorrhagic fever has claimed approximately 15,000 lives across Africa over the past five decades.
The DRC has suffered some of the worst Ebola outbreaks on record. The deadliest, which ran from 2018 to 2020, killed nearly 2,300 people, making it the second largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history globally. That outbreak also occurred in the country’s eastern region, where weak health infrastructure, active armed conflict, and porous borders have historically complicated containment efforts.
The proximity of the current outbreak to Uganda and South Sudan has heightened regional concern, as Ituri Province shares borders with both countries. Regional health bodies are now working to strengthen surveillance at crossing points to prevent further geographic spread.
The latest confirmation comes at a time when global health emergency response systems remain under pressure, with several countries in the region also managing concurrent disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises. The DRC itself has been battling multiple overlapping health emergencies in recent years, including mpox, cholera, and measles.
CDC Africa’s convening of an emergency coordination meeting signals the seriousness with which continental health authorities are treating the current outbreak, even as field investigations continue to determine the full scope of transmission chains.
No vaccine deployment announcements have been made at the time of this report, though proven Ebola vaccines have been used effectively in past DRC outbreaks.
The situation remains fluid and evolving.