At least 87 deaths have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s new Ebola disease outbreak in the eastern Ituri province, authorities said, as health workers raced to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the disease.
Meanwhile, Associated Press journalists in Ituri’s capital Bunia interviewed local people who recounted their fears and constant burials.
“Every day, people are dying… and this has been going on for about a week. In a single day, we bury two, three, or even more people,” said Jean Marc Asimwe, a resident of Bunia.
“At this point, we don’t really know what kind of disease it is.”
Ebola 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.
Officials first announced the latest outbreak on Friday, with 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases.
By Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected and 13 confirmed cases.
Four people have died among the confirmed cases.
At an online briefing on Saturday, Africa CDC director-general Dr Jean Kaseya said the first cases were reported in Mongwalu health zone, a high-traffic mining area.
“Cases subsequently migrated to Rwampara and Bunia as patients sought medical care, enabling spread across three health zones,” he said.
A high number of active cases remain within the local community, particularly in Mongwalu, Dr Kaseya said, “significantly complicating containment and contact tracing efforts”.
Insecurity in Ituri, where so-called Islamic State-backed militants carry out rampant deadly attacks, continues to restrict surveillance and rapid response operations, he added.
The #DRC has declared a new #Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province, with 13 cases so far confirmed to be caused by the Bundibugyo species. A total of 67 community deaths suspected to be due to Ebola Bundibugyo have been reported. #Uganda has also reported one Ebola Bundibugyo… pic.twitter.com/SoR45kcGSf
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 15, 2026
Of the 87 deaths, 57 are in the Mongwalu health zone, 27 in the Rwampara health zone and three in Bunia, Ituri’s main city.
Congolese health minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said late on Friday that test results confirmed the Bundibugyo virus, a variant of the disease that has been less prominent in past outbreaks.
This is the country’s 17th outbreak since Ebola first emerged in the country in 1976.
The suspected index case in the latest outbreak is a nurse who died at a hospital in Bunia, Mr Kamba said, with the case dating back three weeks to April 24.
He did not say whether samples from the nurse were tested, but said the person presented symptoms suggestive of Ebola.
Uganda confirmed on Friday an Ebola case that authorities said was “imported” from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The person died at the Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Uganda’s capital Kampala on May 14.
The Africa CDC had said it is concerned about the risk of further spread due to the proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan.
The body of the patient who died in Kampala was later taken back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and no other local case has been confirmed, Uganda’s Health Ministry said.
