Ebola spreads to sixth DRC province, African Union health agency reports

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to spread, now affecting a sixth province following a death in Uele Province. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), confirmed the expansion, noting that the virus has moved from three to 54 health zones since the outbreak was declared on May 15.

Kaseya highlighted that over 63% of deaths are occurring within communities, contributing to the rapid spread. Uele Province shares a long border with the Central African Republic, while Alto Uele, already experiencing transmission, borders South Sudan. The DRC government has recorded 2,128 deaths and 4,566 confirmed cases, with active transmission in five provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo, and Alto Uele. South Kivu has reported no new cases for 76 days.

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If there were only five provinces affected, now we have a sixth, which is Lower Uele. Someone who left the containment zone and moved to Buta, the provincial capital, where they died.

This current epidemic is the second-largest outbreak in history and the largest recorded in the DRC, surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak. It is also approaching the mortality rate of the deadliest outbreak over a decade ago, which claimed over 11,000 lives. The virus previously spread to Uganda, which declared itself Ebola-free on July 28 after 20 confirmed cases, including 15 imported from the DRC, resulting in two deaths. The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, which has a fatality rate of 30-50% and lacks an authorized vaccine or specific treatment.

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Since May 15, when the outbreak was declared, the virus has gone from three to 54 health zones today. We are talking about six provinces when we only had one before.