Ebola Outbreak Stirs Fear, Uncertainty in Eastern DR Congo's Ituri Province

Source: Xinhua| 2026-05-16 19:19:15|Editor: huaxia

KINSHASA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- In Rwampara, a crowded town on the outskirts of Bunia, capital of Ituri Province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ebola arrived first as whispers.

Long before authorities officially confirmed on Friday that the country was facing its 17th Ebola outbreak, fear had already spread through the community -- carried by rumors, unexplained illnesses, hurried burials, and growing anxiety that people exposed to the virus might still be moving freely through neighborhoods and markets.

"We are afraid because we have never known this disease since we have lived here, but we are being told that it is Ebola," Salire Justin, a resident of Rwampara, told Xinhua on Friday.

"At this stage, there are no measures yet, let alone a treatment center in the town, but we are taking our own health precautions for now," Justin said.

Earlier on Friday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed an Ebola outbreak in Ituri. Yet for many residents, the announcement merely gave a name to what they believed had already been unfolding around them for weeks.

Across Rwampara's streets, conversations have increasingly revolved around mysterious deaths and recurring funerals. Families spoke of relatives who fell ill with fevers, vomiting, and weakness, without ever receiving a clear diagnosis.

"We have buried about a dozen people in recent weeks without knowing exactly what it was," Eugenie Semire, a resident, told Xinhua on Friday. "Now, with everything being said about Ebola, we are afraid that several contacts are still in the community, in our town of Rwampara and across the city of Bunia."

At the Rwampara general hospital, the tension was visible. Health workers wearing masks and protective suits moved carefully through corridors, on alert against the risk of infection.

Late Friday, the Congolese government said the death toll from the outbreak had climbed to 80, with 246 suspected cases reported across the affected health zones of Rwampara, Mongwalu, and Bunia, all in Ituri.

Authorities said laboratory tests had confirmed 13 cases linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, first identified in western Uganda in 2007. The presumed index case, a nurse in the Rwampara health zone, reportedly died after suffering fever, bleeding, vomiting, and severe weakness.

Unlike the Zaire strain, for which licensed vaccines already exist, the Bundibugyo strain presents additional challenges for health authorities racing to contain the outbreak.

In Mongwalu, another affected area known for its mining activity, warning signs had also been mounted before the outbreak was officially declared.

According to local news outlet Actualite.cd, citing a field report from the Ministry of Health dated May 13, at least 55 patients died at the Mongwalu General Referral Hospital between April 1 and May 13. During the same period, the mortality rate in the hospital's internal medicine department reportedly surged from 9 percent in April to 31 percent in May.

According to a field report obtained by Xinhua correspondents on Friday, authorities identified a cluster of 15 deaths within a single family, some occurring after a family gathering in Bunia, with patients exhibiting similar symptoms, including fever, headache, and vomiting.

But in Ituri, the outbreak is spreading across terrain already fractured by years of armed violence.

Mongwalu, located in Djugu territory, remains heavily affected by insecurity linked to the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, widely known as CODECO, an armed group accused of carrying out deadly attacks against civilians.

The violence has complicated access for medical teams attempting to reach affected communities and could undermine efforts to conduct awareness campaigns, testing, and contact tracing.

The province has also faced attacks for years by the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State.

During the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, insecurity around areas affected by ADF activity repeatedly disrupted response operations, forcing temporary suspensions of field work and hampering vaccination and surveillance efforts.

Health officials now fear that the constant movement of people between Ituri and neighboring countries could accelerate the spread of the virus across the Great Lakes region.

On Friday, Uganda confirmed what it described as an imported Ebola case involving a Congolese national who later died in Kampala.

In a written communication issued earlier Friday, before Kinshasa formally announced the outbreak, Ituri provincial health authorities warned of the enormous logistical, medical, and human resources needed to contain the crisis, urging residents to remain vigilant as emergency response measures were gradually being reinforced across the province.