A rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 80 people and reached the eastern city of Goma, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare an international public health emergency. Health authorities say the outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, raising fears of a wider regional crisis. Professor Jean‑Jacques Muyembe, head of Congo’s National Institute of Biomedical Research, said the outbreak began in the Mongbwalu health zone before spreading to Bunia, Rwampara and now Goma, a densely populated city near the Rwandan border.
“The epidemic will spread very rapidly,” Muyembe warned, citing insecurity and the presence of armed groups in the region as major obstacles to containing the virus. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak now constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the organization’s second-highest alert level. He noted that although the outbreak does not yet qualify as a pandemic emergency, there are serious concerns that the number of infections may be far higher than officially reported. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported at least 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases, while Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it is preparing a large-scale emergency response.
The Bundibugyo strain was first identified in Uganda in 2007 and can have a fatality rate of up to 50 percent. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, no licensed vaccine currently exists for this variant. DR Congo’s Health Minister Samuel‑Roger Kamba said the first known patient was a nurse who developed symptoms in Bunia on April 24. Uganda has also confirmed one death linked to the same strain, increasing fears of cross-border transmission. Local aid groups say the healthcare system is struggling to cope. In Bunia, civil society activist Isaac Nyakulinda described overcrowded conditions and a lack of isolation centres, with many victims dying at home and being handled by relatives, increasing the risk of transmission.
Poor roads, insecurity and limited laboratory capacity have further slowed testing and surveillance efforts, with WHO warning that high positivity rates and suspected cases in multiple locations suggest the outbreak could be much larger than current figures indicate. This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, a country that experienced one of the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemics between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people died. Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can cause symptoms including fever, vomiting, weakness and internal bleeding. Health officials say the coming weeks will be critical in preventing the outbreak from escalating further across Central Africa.
