Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have recorded 26 additional suspected Ebola-related deaths within 24 hours, raising fresh concerns over the rapidly spreading outbreak in the country’s eastern region.
The latest fatalities pushed the total number of deaths linked to the outbreak to 131, according to Congolese health officials.
Authorities said there have now been 543 suspected Ebola cases and 33 confirmed infections reported in eastern DRC, while neighbouring Uganda has confirmed two cases so far.
The outbreak has sparked growing international concern, with World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warning that the virus continues to spread across densely populated and conflict-affected areas.
On Saturday, Tedros declared the outbreak involving the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern, marking the first time a WHO chief issued such a declaration before convening an emergency committee.
Medical experts fear the outbreak may become increasingly difficult to contain after the virus reportedly spread undetected for several weeks in regions already destabilised by armed violence.
The city of Butembo, home to hundreds of thousands of residents, confirmed its first two Ebola cases on Monday, according to Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research.
The latest outbreak has revived painful memories of the deadly 2018 to 2020 Ebola crisis in eastern DRC, which claimed nearly 2,300 lives and became the second deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded.
As fears over cross-border transmission intensify, Ugandan authorities have started restricting movement at the Ishasha-Kyeshero border crossing, although officials clarified the border has not been formally closed.
Meanwhile, Reuters reporters said Congolese citizens attempting to enter Rwanda through the cities of Goma and Bukavu were being stopped at border checkpoints.
Despite the growing concerns, the WHO has urged neighbouring countries not to completely shut their borders, warning that doing so could encourage illegal crossings that are harder to monitor and control.
