Health Officials Urge Vigilance as Ebola Spreads to Seventh Province
Kinshasa, September 13 – The Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry reports that the Ebola outbreak, now in its 17th wave, has breached a seventh province, underscoring the need for heightened alertness across the nation.
Spokesperson Patrick Muyuaya, referencing Health Minister Roger Komba’s briefing, confirmed that the outbreak peaked during the third week of August 2026 in the Kabuh area. Since then, ten principal health zones have seen a 21‑day lull in new cases, and transmission rates in the eastern Ituri territory have diminished.
Nevertheless, officials stress that the virus remains a threat, especially in districts where recent case spikes have been observed. Continuous contact tracing, rapid isolation of suspected cases, and strict monitoring are being reinforced.
Former health minister and current parliamentarian Jean‑Jacques Mbuangani M'banda cautioned that a drop in incidents in certain locales should not be interpreted as full containment. He highlighted that different regions may experience peak infection periods at varying times, and that official statistics might not capture hidden community transmission.
The World Health Organization’s most recent weekly assessment describes the outbreak as “still uncontrolled and heterogeneous,” noting divergent trends: some areas report decreasing infections while others face escalating numbers or broader geographic spread.
The confirmation of the first Ebola case in Sud‑Ubangi—north‑western province—adds to the tally of affected provinces, now totaling seven. The patient, a 23‑year‑old male who later died, had traveled extensively across multiple provinces and neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, using both land and river routes.
As of September 10, the DRC has documented 7,022 confirmed Ebola cases, resulting in 3,398 deaths and a 48.4 % fatality rate. The disease now covers 62 health zones within seven provinces, marking the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the nation’s history and the second largest worldwide after the 2014‑2016 West African crisis.