{"id":644603,"date":"2026-05-15T11:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/644603\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:52:08","slug":"africa-cdc-confirms-new-ebola-outbreak-in-remote-congo-province","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/644603\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa CDC confirms new Ebola outbreak in remote Congo province"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) \u2014 Africa CDC, the continent\u2019s top public health body, on Friday confirmed a new Ebola outbreak<\/a> in Congo\u2019s remote Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far.<\/p>\n

The deaths and suspected cases have been recorded mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Ebola virus<\/a> is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases. Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, pending confirmation,\u201d the agency said, referring to the capital of Ituri province, near the border with Uganda.<\/p>\n

It said preliminary laboratory results have detected the Ebola virus in 13 of 20 samples tested.<\/p>\n

The latest outbreak comes around five months after Congo\u2019s last Ebola outbreak was declared over<\/a> after 43 deaths.<\/p>\n

Ituri is in a remote eastern part of Congo characterized by poor road networks, and is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the nation\u2019s capital of Kinshasa.<\/p>\n

Africa CDC said it is concerned about the risk of further spread due to intense population movement, mining-related mobility in Mongwalu, insecurity in affected areas, gaps in contact listing and control challenges.<\/p>\n

The proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan also raises concerns, it said.<\/p>\n

The agency said it is convening an urgent high-level coordination meeting Friday with health authorities from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, together with key partners including U.N. agencies and other countries. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe meeting will focus on immediate response priorities, cross-border coordination, surveillance, laboratory support, infection prevention and control, risk communication, safe and dignified burials, and resource mobilization,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Congo has seen more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks<\/p>\n

This is the 17th outbreak in Congo since the disease first emerged in the country in 1976. An Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 in eastern Congo<\/a> killed more than 1,000 people.<\/p>\n

An earlier outbreak that swept across West Africa from 2014 to 2016 also killed more than 11,000 people.<\/p>\n

The new outbreak will create more worry for the Central African country, which has been battling various armed groups in the east, including the M23 rebel group, which launched a rapid assault in January<\/a> last year and has since occupied key cities.<\/p>\n

Ituri in particular is also battling violence from the Allied Democratic Force, an Islamic State-linked militant group which has killed dozens there and in other parts of the east.<\/p>\n

Congo, Africa\u2019s second-largest country by land area, often faces logistical challenges in responding to disease outbreaks. During last year\u2019s outbreak, which lasted three months, the World Health Organization initially faced significant challenges<\/a> in delivering vaccines due to limited access and scarce funds.<\/p>\n

Dr. Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health who has been involved in past Ebola outbreak responses in Congo, said the country and health workers on the ground have a high level of experience from past outbreaks, in addition to existing infrastructure such as laboratories.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of training, people already know what they can do. Now, the expertise and equipment need to be delivered quickly,\u201d Nsakala added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KINSHASA, Congo (AP) \u2014 Africa CDC, the continent\u2019s top public health body, on Friday confirmed a new Ebola…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1926,23715,86521,86525,107850,278220,793,97,5599,965],"class_list":["post-644603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-africa","tag-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention","tag-democratic-republic-of-congo","tag-democratic-republic-of-the-congo","tag-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-government","tag-gabriel-nsakala","tag-general-news","tag-health","tag-public-health","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}