Congo’s record‑breaking Ebola outbreak has spread into a seventh province, with authorities saying the rapid expansion shows no signs of slowing. Local officials confirmed that the outbreak now includes Sud‑Ubangi in the north‑west, the first province outside the eastern region where the virus has previously been detected.
Jean‑Rene Galekwa Vundawe, governor of Sud‑Ubangi, said the national research institute identified the rare Bundibugyo virus strain in a positive sample from the Bulu health district. The sample came from a 23‑year‑old man who died in the Sud‑Ubangi town of Gwaka. According to former health minister Jean‑Jacques Mbungani, the man had travelled for three weeks from South Kivu, through Rwanda and Uganda, to Ituri, then north through Tshopo, Mongala and Sud‑Ubangi before his death.
As of Wednesday, government figures list 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths. The World Health Organization warns the outbreak remains uncontrolled and could surpass the 2014‑16 West African epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people. While new cases in Ituri have fallen, numbers have risen sharply in North Kivu and Haut‑Uele. The spread is exacerbated by insecurity, displacement, a health‑workers’ strike and large population movements, especially at precarious displacement sites.
Congo began vaccinating health workers with Ervebo last month, a vaccine proven effective against the more common Zaire strain. Clinical trials are underway for a vaccine against Bundibugyo. Africa CDC’s director for research, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, announced vaccination trials in Tshopo, Haut‑Uele and Bas‑Uele, with Ituri set to start next week. The WHO has warned that the virus could spread into South Sudan and the Central African Republic, while Uganda, which had 20 cases since May, declared itself Ebola‑free in July.
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