15.05.2026 20:10
As of May 15, 65 people have died and the number of cases has reached 246 in the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. An international alert was issued due to the outbreak near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan.
Ebola cases have been reported in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the east.
246 CASES AND 65 DEATHS RECORDED
In a statement from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was stated that as of May 15, 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths due to the Ebola virus had been recorded in Ituri province.
It was noted that the cases are particularly concentrated in the Mongwalu and Rwampara regions, and suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, the administrative center of Ituri.
The statement reported that the Ebola virus was detected in 13 of 20 samples examined by the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, and genetic analysis of the virus is ongoing.
It was stated that regional coordination efforts have been increased against the risk of cross-border transmission, especially in Ituri, which is located near the borders of Uganda and South Sudan.
The outbreak has been recorded as "the 17th Ebola outbreak in the country since 1976."
EBOLA HAS CAUSED THOUSANDS OF DEATHS IN AFRICA
The Ebola virus, which causes a type of hemorrhagic fever, first emerged in 1976 with simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan, and Yambuku, DRC. The outbreak in the DRC was named after the Ebola River because it began in a village near that river.
The Ebola virus spread in West Africa in December 2013. During the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2017, 30,000 people were infected with the virus, and more than 11,000 of the patients died.