A new Ebola case has been confirmed in rebel-controlled eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, raising fresh concerns that the deadly outbreak is spreading far beyond its original epicentre.
Authorities in South Kivu province said the confirmed case involved a 28-year-old patient who died in a rural community near the provincial capital, Bukavu, hundreds of kilometres from the main outbreak zone in Ituri province.
The rebel alliance Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes the Rwanda-backed M23 movement controlling parts of eastern Congo, confirmed the death and said the victim had been safely buried according to Ebola response protocols.
Officials said the patient had travelled from the northern city of Kisangani in Tshopo province, though details of the individual’s movements before death remain unclear.
Health authorities say the new case signals a dangerous geographic expansion of the outbreak, which experts believe circulated undetected for nearly two months before being formally identified.
The World Health Organization has already declared the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.
According to the WHO, the outbreak has been linked to at least 139 deaths and around 600 suspected cases in eastern Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces.
Two confirmed cases have also been reported in neighbouring Uganda, heightening fears of wider regional transmission.
South Kivu health officials said another suspected case has also been identified in the province and remains in isolation awaiting laboratory confirmation.
The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola poses a particular challenge for health authorities because there is currently no approved vaccine specifically designed to combat it.
Medical experts warn the outbreak is especially dangerous because it is spreading in densely populated urban areas already destabilized by armed conflict and humanitarian crises.
Last week, another Ebola case was confirmed in Goma, the major eastern city controlled by M23 rebels in North Kivu province.
The rebel administration has pledged cooperation with international health agencies in efforts to contain the virus.
Containment efforts are being complicated by insecurity, weak healthcare infrastructure and shortages of medical supplies across eastern Congo.
First responders and aid agencies say they are struggling with limited resources, with some attributing the shortages partly to reductions in international humanitarian funding.
The outbreak has revived memories of the devastating 2018–2020 Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo, which killed nearly 2,300 people and became one of the deadliest outbreaks in history.
Health officials in Goma, Bukavu and other eastern cities are now intensifying screenings, surveillance and contact tracing as fears grow that the virus could spread further across borders and urban centres in Central and East Africa.
