The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared a new Ebola outbreak after a laboratory-confirmed case in southern Kasai province. Authorities say there are 28 suspected infections and 15 deaths so far, marking Congo’s 16th recorded Ebola outbreak.
Health officials said the confirmed patient is a 34-year-old pregnant woman hospitalized in August with fever and persistent vomiting. Investigations, case finding and contact tracing are under way, with additional samples being tested to determine the scope of the cluster.
Congo has deep experience responding to Ebola, including declaring the end of its most recent outbreak in September 2022 in North Kivu, and it has faced Kasai-area outbreaks before (notably in 2007). Those responses typically combine isolation of cases, safe and dignified burials, and rapid mobilization of surveillance teams.
If the virus is confirmed to be the Zaire ebolavirus species, authorities can deploy ring vaccination using Merck’s Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV), which is licensed in DRC and stocked globally for outbreak response. WHO notes the vaccine’s use across the region, and reports that hundreds of thousands have been vaccinated in and around previous DRC outbreaks.