Kinshasa, May 21 (IANS) The latest Ebola outbreak has spread to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s South Kivu Province, with fresh concern surfacing over wider transmission in the volatile eastern region.

On Thursday, the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group confirmed a new case in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.

The group, which has been capturing the city since February 2025, said that a 28-year-old man had travelled from Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo Province, and died before his diagnosis was confirmed, Xinhua news agency reported.

Though Tshopo has not seen any cases to date, Kisangani — one of the DRC’s busiest transport hubs — has emerged as a new area of concern, as authorities race to determine how far the virus may have already spread before detection.

The outbreak, initially reported in Ituri Province, has now affected North Kivu and South Kivu, while two confirmed cases have also been reported in the neighbouring country of Uganda.

According to the figures released Thursday by DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba, 626 suspected cases and 159 probable deaths have been recorded since the country declared its 17th outbreak on May 15.

In areas under its control, the M23 said that more than 200 samples from suspected cases had been sent to Goma, the capital of North Kivu, for laboratory analysis. In Goma, one confirmed case remains under strict medical supervision, while identified contacts have been isolated, it added.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the number of cases is expected to keep rising, given the length of time the virus appeared to have circulated before the outbreak was detected.

“So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in the DRC, in the northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, including in the cities of Bunia and Goma, although we know the scale of the epidemic in DRC is much larger,” he said on Wednesday.

According to WHO officials, investigations are still underway to determine exactly when and where the outbreak began, but the scale of the epidemic suggests the virus may have been circulating for some time before being confirmed.

“We are thinking that it has started probably a couple of months ago,” Anais Legand, a WHO technical officer on viral hemorrhagic fevers, said Wednesday, stressing an immediate priority to cut transmission through contact tracing, isolation, and care for suspected and confirmed cases.

–IANS

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