Africa's top health body warns Congo’s Ebola outbreak is rapidly
spreading beyond epicenter
[September 11, 2026]
By JEAN-YVES KAMALE and MARK BANCHEREAU
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record in
eastern Congo is rapidly spreading beyond its epicenter, Africa’s top
health body said Thursday.
In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have declined in Ituri province,
the outbreak’s epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu
and Haut-Uele, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
said at a weekly briefing.
According to the latest government figures released on Thursday, 6,843
cases have been reported, including 3,310 deaths. Ituri province remains
the hardest-hit province, with more than 5,400 cases while North Kivu
has reported over 1,000 cases since the outbreak was declared in May.
The outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading under extremely difficult
conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike
and intense population movements. The situation is particularly
concerning at displacement sites, where residents already live in
extremely precarious conditions.
The World Health Organization has said the outbreak remains out of
control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola
outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people,
primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In North Kivu, new cases more than doubled to 381 in the latest
three-week period, from 165 in the earlier period, Yap Boum, Africa
CDC’s head of emergency preparedness and response, said Thursday.
The virus recently reached two more health zones in North Kivu, where
fighting between government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who
control the provincial capital Goma, has complicated the response.
[to top of second column]
|
Health workers prepare to transfer the body of Abineno Justine, a
38-year-old woman who died of the Ebola virus, to a coffin ahead of
her burial in Bunia, Congo, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne
Dirole)
Last month, Congo began vaccinating health and other front-line workers
with the Ervebo vaccine that was effective in past Ebola outbreaks
caused by a different, more common type called Zaire.
Clinical trials are underway to find a licensed vaccine for the
Bundibugyo virus.
The vaccination trials started in the eastern Tshopo, Haut-Uele and
Bas-Uele provinces, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC’s director for
research, clinical trials and innovation, said Thursday.
Kingebeni said the vaccination campaign initially targeted newly
affected provinces to help prevent further spread. Vaccinations in Ituri
are set to start next week, he added.
A key challenge is the limited supply of doses, said Kingebeni. Congo
has received 70,000 doses so far.
___
Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
