Kehinde Adegoke | Agency Report
New York: The World Health Organisation has sounded an alarm over a fast‑spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reporting more than 500 suspected infections and 130 deaths so far. The escalating toll underscores the grave threat facing communities as health workers race to contain one of the deadliest viral emergencies in recent years.
Dr Anne Ancia, WHO’s representative in DRC, said that only 30 cases have been confirmed from the suspected deaths, with efforts underway to scale up testing.
She said the agency was working closely with the authorities and rushing more testing kits to eastern DRC to identify cases of infection with the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. She noted that Bundibugyo is a distinct species of Ebola virus for which there are currently no approved vaccines or therapeutics.
“We have significant uncertainty about the number of infections and how far the virus has spread,” Ancia said.
Reporting from Bunia, Ituri province, where the outbreak first appeared, Ancia said the outbreak had spread to North Kivu, with confirmed cases in Butembo and Goma.
Uganda has also confirmed two imported cases.
“I don’t think that we have ‘patient zero’ for now,” Ancia said.
“What we know for now is that on May 5, there was a person who died in Bunia. The body was brought back to Mongbwalu and put in a coffin. The family decided that the coffin was not worth the person.
She explained that during the funeral for the initial case, the family changed the deceased’s coffin before the ceremony, which is believed to have marked the start of the outbreak.
Detection of initial cases was delayed because local tests in Bunia returned negative results for the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, rather than for Bundibugyo. Bundibugyo and Zaire are separate Ebola virus species distinguished by genetic differences.
A wide range of symptoms—including fever, fatigue, diarrhoea, and vomiting—has complicated swift diagnosis.
This was in addition to the difficulty posed by the nosebleeds associated with the disease, which did not begin until day five of infection, the WHO official explained.
In the end, it was only through tests in Kinshasa that the presence of the Bundibugyo virus was finally revealed.
Ancia said there was a focus at the international level on potential candidate vaccines or treatments that could help fight the outbreak.
A WHO technical advisory group was scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon “to provide further recommendations to the WHO and its Member States on which potential vaccine should be prioritised”, she explained.
Ervebo, a vaccine designed to protect against the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, is under consideration, the WHO representative said. However, she explained that Ervebo does not protect against the Bundibugyo strain, which is responsible for the current outbreak, and “it would take two months for it to be available”.
While a vaccine could provide additional prevention and protection to affected populations, the key to containing transmission lies in grassroots work within communities.
This approach focuses on raising awareness, fighting misinformation, and ensuring compliance with sanitary measures, especially during funerals.
“If we use coercive measures and the population does not agree, we will see bodies disappear. We will see suspected cases refusing to come to the hospitals and health facilities,” Ancia warned.
She emphasised the importance of ongoing engagement with schools, churches, and community leaders.
Ancia said WHO was supporting the Government-led response with more than 40 health professionals on the ground and by deploying supplies and additional diagnostic capacity.
She said that the context remains complex, both epidemiological, operational, and humanitarian. The situation is characterised by insecurity and displacement. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that the affected provinces of Ituri and North Kivu are home to more than two million internally displaced people and returnees.
Healthcare capacity in these regions remains weakened by ongoing conflict.
“There is also concern for refugees living in the affected areas.
“In Ituri, some 11,000 South Sudanese refugees require preventive assistance, while in North Kivu’s capital, the rebel-held city of Goma, more than 2,000 Rwandan and Burundian refugees need sanitary supplies.
“The most“The most recent outbreak of the Ebola Zaire virus in DRC ended in December 2025. The trauma of a major epidemic in North Kivu and Ituri in 2018-19 persists among the population,” she said. Tressed that while it may be two months until a vaccine is available, “it is not two months before the outbreak will be done”.