Africa's top public health body has declared a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Ituri province, raising concerns over cross-border spread in a region already affected by conflict and frequent population movements.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in a statement on Friday that around 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths had been reported, mainly in the mining areas of Mongwalu and Rwampara, about 100 kilometres north of the provincial capital Bunia.
Among the cases confirmed by a laboratory, four people died.
Preliminary laboratory analysis by the National Biomedical Research Institute in Kinshasa detected the virus in 13 of 20 samples tested.
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Health officials say sequencing is ongoing, but early indications suggest the strain is not the Zaire variant, which has been responsible for several previous outbreaks in the country.
Additional suspected cases have been reported in Bunia, a densely populated urban centre near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan, heightening fears of regional transmission.
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo kills 15 with dozens of suspected cases
Regional meeting
In response, Africa CDC has convened an urgent meeting with authorities in DR Congo and neighbouring countries, as well as international partners, to coordinate surveillance and containment efforts.
The agency warned that "intense population movement" linked to mining activities and cross-border trade could accelerate the spread of the virus.
There has so far been no official communication from the Congolese government.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal viral disease transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated materials. Symptoms typically begin with fever, fatigue and muscle pain, progressing in some cases to vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding.
People become contagious only after symptoms appear, following an incubation period of two to 21 days.
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First identified in what is now DR Congo in 1976, the virus is believed to have originated in bats. Despite advances in outbreak response, there is still no widely available cure.
DR Congo has experienced multiple Ebola outbreaks, including its deadliest between 2018 and 2020, which killed nearly 2,300 people. The most recent outbreak, declared over in December 2025 in the central Kasai region, recorded 64 cases and 45 deaths.
Over the past five decades, Ebola has claimed an estimated 50,000 lives across Africa. Health authorities now face renewed pressure to contain the latest outbreak before it spreads further within the region.
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(with newswires)
