An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 131 people, with more than 513 suspected cases.
The BBC writes about this.
A local government spokesman said the disease is spreading to larger areas. In particular, Ebola has already been recorded in the following areas: Nyakunde, Butembo and the city of Goma.
Also in Uganda, two cases of the disease have already been confirmed, and another person has died.
Among those confirmed to have the virus are Americans, so Washington wants to organize the evacuation of its citizens to a safe place for the duration of the quarantine. The US has also issued a level four (highest) travel advisory, which warns against travel to the DR Congo.
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo
The first human case of Ebola was reported in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. The mortality rate during the first outbreaks was as high as 90%. Thanks to the availability of a vaccine against the Ebola-Zaire strain, this figure has now been reduced to almost 40%.
The largest outbreak of Ebola virus in terms of the number of infected people occurred in West Africa from 2014 to 2016. The number of victims exceeded 11 thousand. In 2014, Time magazine named the fighters against Ebola "Person of the Year".
On May 17, 2026, WHO reported a new outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda (at that time, 80 deaths were reported). The organization called the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern. The reason is that there is no vaccine for this strain — Ebola-Bundibugyo.
At the same time, WHO advised countries neighboring DR Congo to activate their national disaster and emergency management mechanisms, as well as conduct border screening and screening on major internal roads.
The current outbreak is the 17th in the history of the DR Congo; all previous ones, except one, were caused by the Zaire strain.
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