Ebola detected in a seventh province in DR Congo as outbreak widens

Ebola has been detected in South-Ubangi province in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, extending the country's current outbreak to a seventh province. Local authorities said laboratory analysis confirmed the virus after a suspected case was identified in the Bulu health district. Officials said the province borders the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville, raising concern about possible cross-border exposure.

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The acting governor of South-Ubangi, Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, said the sample was tested by the national biomedical research institute in Kinshasa and found to contain the Bundibugyo virus, the rare strain linked to the current outbreak. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who heads the National Institute for Biomedical Research, confirmed that a man had tested positive for Ebola. Authorities said local transmission has not yet been confirmed in South-Ubangi, so the province has not yet been formally added to the list of areas officially affected by the epidemic.

The patient who died in South-Ubangi had developed symptoms in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province, after travelling through Rwanda, Uganda and Ituri province in northeastern DRC, according to the governor's office. Officials said the patient then travelled by boat on the Congo River, which they said could expose populations in North-Ubangi, Tshopo and Mongala. Thirty-eight contacts have been identified so far, although authorities have not said whether any of them have tested positive.

The new detection matters because the outbreak is already the deadliest and largest in DRC history by case count. Government figures released this week put the total at 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths, far above the 2,299 deaths recorded in the country's 2018-2020 outbreak. The World Health Organization has said the outbreak remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic, which killed more than 11,325 people.

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DRC is dealing with its 17th Ebola outbreak, and the current one has already spread across six provinces in the east and northeast before reaching South-Ubangi. The Bundibugyo strain is less common than the Zaire virus that drove the country's previous worst outbreak, but the latest spread shows how quickly movement along transport routes can widen the geographic footprint of the disease. The mention of river travel is significant because the Congo River links multiple provinces and can complicate containment efforts.

What remains unclear is whether South-Ubangi will become an officially affected province if local transmission is confirmed. Health officials have not yet said how the 38 identified contacts are being monitored or whether additional cases have been found. The next key developments will be laboratory follow-up, contact tracing and whether the outbreak can be contained before it spreads further into border and river communities.

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