The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has expanded to a sixth province, Bas-Uele, after a patient traveling from the already-affected Haut-Uele province died in the town of Buta.
The development marks a grim milestone in what is now the country’s deadliest and fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record, with more than 2,128 deaths reported among 4,566 confirmed cases as of 11 August, according to Al Jazeera.
Bas-Uele, a vast northeastern province bordering the Central African Republic, had not previously recorded any Ebola cases. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told reporters that the deceased had traveled from Isiro in Haut-Uele to Buta, the provincial capital, where they succumbed to the virus. The new case has raised fears of further undetected transmission, as contact tracing efforts intensify to identify potentially infected individuals.
Until this latest development, five provinces had been affected: Ituri, Nord Kivu (North Kivu), Sud Kivu (South Kivu), Haut-Uele, and Tshopo. Ituri remains the epicenter of transmission, accounting for the majority of cases, while active transmission continues in Nord Kivu and Haut-Uele.
The outbreak, officially declared on May 15 after weeks of delay, has killed more than 2,100 people in less than three months, surpassing half the death toll of the 2018–2020 epidemic that claimed 2,287 lives over nearly two years. Government data published on August 10 showed 4,381 confirmed cases and 2,011 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of nearly 46 percent. By 11 August, the figures had risen to 4,566 confirmed cases and 2,128 deaths.
The epidemic’s trajectory has been described as “unacceptable” by Africa CDC leadership, with deaths reaching 1,000 in nine weeks and doubling to 2,000 within just three more. Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who co-discovered Ebola in 1976, warned that the current outbreak is spreading at a rate exceeding previous epidemics, exposing weaknesses in coordination and response.
In response to the escalating crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Congolese authorities have accelerated clinical trials of treatments and vaccines targeting the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which no approved therapies currently exist.
Efforts to contain the outbreak have been complicated by community resistance and attacks on health workers, particularly in Nord Kivu’s Butembo, which has emerged as an epicenter with more than 300 confirmed cases and 209 deaths. Local NGO REDHO reported that four health facilities have been burned down and more than seven attempted attacks thwarted in Butembo alone.
Butembo’s role as a major commercial hub, with thousands of people passing through daily, further complicates containment efforts. Health authorities have called for judicial investigations into attacks on medical staff and facilities, while urging communities to cooperate with contact tracing and isolation measures.
Amid the Ebola crisis, health authorities in Maniema Province launched a five-day vaccination campaign on August 11 targeting measles, rubella, and polio. The initiative, inaugurated by Provincial Governor Moise Mussa Kabwankubi in Kindu, aims to safeguard child health in a region where outbreaks of preventable diseases have posed recurring challenges.
