The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is rapidly expanding, now reaching a sixth province in the country’s north and raising concerns about potential spread to neighboring South Sudan. This marks the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in DRC, declared on May 15 after weeks of delay. Authorities describe it as the deadliest in the nation’s history.

The previous most devastating Ebola crisis in DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 reported cases between 2018 and 2020.

Current figures show over 2,128 deaths from 4,566 confirmed cases within just three months of the outbreak’s declaration, according to the latest official health report.

Initially, five provinces were affected: Ituri (bordering Uganda and South Sudan), North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé, and Tshopo. However, a new case has emerged in Bas-Uélé province in the north, bordering the Central African Republic, which had previously remained untouched by the outbreak.

Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), confirmed this development during an online press briefing. The victim had traveled from Haut-Uélé, a neighboring province already battling Ebola cases.

Africa CDC has warned that the outbreak is spreading at an unprecedented pace globally.

Three months into the current outbreak, DRC has recorded seven times more cases and five times more deaths than the West African Ebola crisis of 2014 did during its first three months, according to the organization.

The World Health Organization (WHO) remains cautiously optimistic, expressing hope that the upward trend can be reversed within three months.

High-risk corridors threaten South Sudan

Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian organization, has also raised alarms about the potential for the virus to cross into South Sudan. Confirmed cases are now just 35 kilometers from the South Sudanese border, along high-risk movement corridors.

Challenges in containment

The response efforts face significant obstacles, including overwhelmed health services, limited access to clean water and sanitation, fragile community trust, and persistent insecurity that hinders teams from reaching affected populations.

The North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, two of the hardest-hit regions, are further divided by active conflict zones between Congolese armed forces and the M23 rebel group, reportedly backed by Rwanda. This conflict has resulted in the group seizing control of large swathes of territory.

South Kivu recently marked 42 days without new Ebola cases, prompting local authorities to declare the end of the outbreak there on Monday.

Concerns arose in early August when a suspected Ebola-related death was reported on a boat traveling down the Congo River toward Kinshasa. However, no additional cases were detected among other passengers, who were permitted to disembark near the capital on Friday.

Ebola, transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, causes severe hemorrhagic fever and has claimed over 15,000 lives across Africa over the past five decades.