Health & Public Health
DR Congo Ebola death suspected on boat near Kinshasa
DR Congo authorities said Thursday they had isolated a boat 65 kilometres from Kinshasa after a passenger suspected of having Ebola died on board while travelling from Tshopo province, where cases have been reported.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said a mobile laboratory had been set up to test all passengers. Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said authorities followed the vessel and held it outside the capital, and that there had been no other deaths on board. Muyaya said the passenger was more than 1,200 kilometres from Kinshasa when they died.
The incident raised concern because Kinshasa, a city of about 17 million people, has so far avoided the outbreak affecting DR Congo's east and northeast. Authorities officially declared the outbreak on May 15. It has killed at least 1,800 people among nearly 4,000 confirmed infections and has spread across five provinces and to neighbouring Uganda.
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that the outbreak was spreading faster than the response was being scaled up, with new cases doubling in some hotspots over the past week. The United States has announced more than $242 million in additional funding, bringing its direct financial assistance for the outbreak to more than $500 million.
This is DR Congo's 17th declared Ebola outbreak. The current epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is not yet an approved vaccine or treatment.
Update
Authorities said a passenger suspected of having Ebola died on a boat heading toward Kinshasa from Tshopo province.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said a mobile laboratory was set up to test all passengers.
Officials said the vessel was isolated on the river 65 kilometres from Kinshasa.
Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said there had been no other deaths on the boat.
Muyaya said the person was more than 1,200 kilometres from Kinshasa when they died.
Source note: AFP news report published on 6 August 2026 at 14:03:10 UTC.
Update
The United States announced more than $242 million in additional funding to combat the outbreak.
The State Department said direct US financial assistance for the outbreak now exceeds $500 million.
Tedros said new cases were doubling in some hotspots over the past week.
OCHA said a new 100-bed Ebola treatment centre opened in Bunia on Tuesday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 5 August 2026 at 19:46:26 UTC.
Update
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote after meeting response organisations that efforts must be urgently and massively scaled up.
Tedros called for frontline health workers to receive protection, training and support.
Hospital sources said staff at an Ebola treatment centre in Mongbwalu protested over unpaid government allowances and were dispersed by police warning shots.
Source note: AFP news report published on 5 August 2026 at 17:38:36 UTC.
Update
WHO said the outbreak has reached 3,874 confirmed cases and 1,751 deaths.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday for a planned meeting with President Felix Tshisekedi on Wednesday.
WHO said the outbreak was spreading at an “exceptional” pace and needed a larger response.
Canada approved Moderna to begin clinical trials of a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain.
WHO said the rVSV Bundibugyo vaccine was the most promising candidate and would also be developed by Hilleman Laboratories.
Source note: AFP news report published on 5 August 2026 at 14:29:44 UTC.
Update
Confirmed Ebola cases rose to 3,802 from 3,748.
Deaths rose to 1,707 from 1,657.
Recoveries rose to 727 from 708.
Suspected cases under investigation rose to 275 from 227.
WHO officials gave details on vaccine and treatment trials for the Bundibugyo species outbreak.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 August 2026 at 16:11:10 UTC.
Update
WHO said the outbreak had reached 3,748 confirmed cases, including 1,657 deaths.
WHO said 708 patients had recovered and 227 suspected cases were under investigation.
WHO said 17,000 contacts were being monitored, with more than 80 percent receiving daily checks.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the outbreak was still expanding beyond response capacity and called for more financial and operational support.
Nearly 90 percent of reported cases are in Ituri, with nearly all the rest in North Kivu.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 August 2026 at 11:44:01 UTC.
Update
The WHO said the outbreak had reached 3,605 confirmed cases and 1,587 deaths as of July 30.
The WHO said the case fatality rate was 44 percent.
The WHO warned that the outbreak was intensifying at an exceptional pace, with sustained transmission and continued increases in cases and deaths.
The WHO called for a significant scaling-up of the health response.
The WHO described the outbreak as the largest recorded Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 August 2026 at 13:09:52 UTC.
Update
Congolese officials reported 3,532 confirmed Ebola cases across five provinces, including 1,556 deaths.
The case count has passed the roughly 3,500 cases recorded in the 2018-2020 outbreak, which was the deadliest in DR Congo.
Officials had recorded 2,000 confirmed cases on July 15, two months after the outbreak was declared.
Uganda declared itself Ebola-free this week after the recovery of the last locally transmitted case, while the WHO says Uganda remains at risk from spread from DR Congo.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 14:15:18 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The boat passenger's Ebola infection was described as suspected, with testing of passengers under way.
The source gives rounded outbreak figures of at least 1,800 deaths among nearly 4,000 confirmed infections.
Source
AFP news report published on .