European Commission DG ECHO / Flickr
The most recent outbreak is worrying: neighboring Angola has another 246 suspected cases. “Urgent high-level” meeting convened between several countries and international partners.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) has declared a new Ebola outbreak that has already caused at least 80 deadaccording to a statement from the Congolese Ministry of Health cited today by the Efe agency, issued one day after the public health agency of the African Union (AU) announced, this Friday, that there were 65 deaths and more 246 suspected cases.
In a statement, the AU African Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the cases were mainly recorded in the Mongwalu and Rwampara areas of Ituri province (east).
DRCongo, a country neighboring Angola, suffered another Ebola outbreak between September and December 2025, which caused 45 deaths and 64 cases in the province of Kasai (center).
According to Africa CDC, 13 of 20 samples analyzed in Kinshasa tested positive for the Ebola viruswith “four deaths among laboratory-confirmed cases” having been confirmed.
The Africa CDC indicated that it is monitoring “the situation closely” and called for a “urgent high-level” meeting with DRCongo, Uganda, South Sudan and international partners to strengthen cross-border surveillance and outbreak response efforts.
Suspected cases were also identified in Buniacapital of the province of Ituri, awaiting laboratory confirmation.
Later this Friday, the Uganda confirmed a case of Ebola in the country after a positive test was carried out on a Congolese citizen who was admitted to a hospital in Kampala and who ended up dying, Ugandan authorities announced. All contacts linked to the man who tested positive have been quarantined, including a high-risk contact who is a close relative of the victim, it added. The man’s body was taken to DRCongo and the Ugandan ministry highlighted that the positive case is imported and Uganda “has not yet confirmed a local case”.
This is the 17th Ebola epidemic registered in DRCongo since the discovery of the disease in 1976, in what was then Zaire, the former name of this Central African country. The last epidemic declared in the country, in August 2025, caused at least 34 deaths before being considered eradicated in December.
The virus causes highly contagious hemorrhagic fever and is transmitted through bodily fluids, causing symptoms such as fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhea.
Eastern DRCongo has faced a situation of armed violence and instability for decades, often making health response operations difficult.
