An outbreak of Ebola virus disease has been confirmed in the Ituri province, as reported on Friday by the Africa CDC. The presence of the virus has been confirmed in 13 out of 20 samples tested in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, with four deaths reported among the laboratory-confirmed cases. Suspected cases have also been identified in Bunia, the capital of the Ituri province, awaiting confirmation.
15,000 deaths in Africa Ebola virus remains deadly despite recent vaccines and treatments. This highly contagious hemorrhagic fever has caused 15,000 deaths in Africa over the past 50 years. The deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC, which occurred between 2018 and 2020, resulted in over 2,300 deaths out of 3,500 cases. The current epidemic is the 17th in the DRC since the disease was first identified in 1976 in Zaire, the former name of the country. The most recent epidemic, declared in August 2025 in the central part of the country, claimed at least 34 lives before being declared eradicated in December.
The AU health agency is closely monitoring the situation and organized an urgent high-level coordination meeting on Friday with the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, and international partners to enhance cross-border surveillance, preparedness, and epidemic response efforts.
