Madar (Kinshasa) - The Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus has reached an eighth province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nord-Ubangi, which borders the Central African Republic, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, October 22, 2026, as investigators traced the source of Nigeria's first confirmed case, UN News reported.
Declared in mid-May, the outbreak has caused 9,552 confirmed infections and more than 4,600 deaths in DR Congo, around six in ten of them outside health centres, a sign of the difficulty of halting community transmission. WHO cited reports last week of 15 deaths a day in Mangina, North Kivu.
In Nigeria, "the source of exposure is still not known and the travel history of the patient is being pieced together now in terms of her movement from Uganda up to Nigeria," said Dr Patrick Otim of WHO's Emergency Response programme. The patient developed symptoms on October 7, four days after arriving, and was confirmed on October 20; 44 contacts are being monitored, WHO said. Nigeria is the fifth country this year to detect the disease, after DR Congo, France, Uganda and Kenya.
Kenya has reported nine cases, including one death, and Patrick Amoth, Director General of Kenya's Ministry of Health, said 135 contacts of the deceased had been traced. WHO said there were no preliminary data yet on whether the Ervebo vaccine, designed for the Zaire species, offers cross-protection against Bundibugyo, for which no vaccine is approved.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will hold a high-level virtual meeting of African health ministers on Wednesday, October 28, to assess the situation and strengthen cross-border coordination, ahead of a heads of state summit under African Union Chairperson Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi. "Ebola is crossing borders. Our response must move faster, with stronger coordination, greater solidarity and decisive political leadership," said Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya.
