The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded 1,333 confirmed Ebola cases, with government data issued on June 30, 2026, showing 399 deaths; an earlier government release on June 29, 2026, put the death toll at 377. The cases have been reported across the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, and authorities warn the virus may be spreading to neighbouring areas.
Health officials are now tracing potential exposures in two provinces not previously affected by this outbreak after a series of high‑risk movements. According to a Health Ministry report dated June 29 and reviewed by Reuters, a pregnant woman from Niania health zone in Ituri fell ill on June 18 and died on June 27. Her body was transported by motorcycle roughly 300 km west to Kisangani in neighbouring Tshopo province; a morgue sample there later tested positive for Ebola.
The report says the body’s journey through several health zones before the diagnosis increased the risk of transmission, prompting contact‑tracing operations across Tshopo. Authorities describe the situation as particularly worrying because movement between remote health zones can seed new chains of infection.
Separately, a senior health official-speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to brief the media-told Reuters that two people identified as contacts of cases in Niania had fled isolation to Haut‑Uele province. Haut‑Uele borders both South Sudan and the Central African Republic. One of the two tested positive for Ebola, the other was awaiting a confirmatory result; both have since been located and are being returned to Niania while teams trace anyone they may have encountered in Haut‑Uele.
The outbreak, which was declared on May 15, 2026, has so far concentrated in eastern DRC, and accompanying reports and images reference the Bundibugyo strain. Health authorities are stepping up surveillance, isolation and contact tracing to prevent further spread, citing the urgency of locating potentially exposed people who have moved between provinces.
Original Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/congo-says-number-of-confirmed-ebola-cases-rises-to-1333/article71168418.ece
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Publish Date: 2026-07-01 06:23:00
