BUNIA: A new outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, African health officials said on Friday, voicing concern of the risk it could further spread.

Some 246 suspected cases, including 65 deaths, have been reported, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) said.

The latest outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100 million inhabitants is in northeastern Ituri province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan, CDC Africa said.

Mining in the gold-rich province creates an intense movement of people on a daily basis.

For years, Ituri has been plagued by recurrent clashes driven by local militias, making it difficult to access certain parts of the province for security reasons.

“Ebola Virus Disease outbreak confirmed in Ituri Province,” Africa CDC said in a statement.

Results from 13 of 20 samples tested in the capital, Kinshasa, indicated that “four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases”, it said.

The last outbreak in the country was in August in the central region and killed at least 34 people, before being declared eradicated in December.

Nearly 2,300 people died in the deadliest outbreak in the DRC between 2018 and 2020.

First identified in 1976 and believed to have originated in bats, Ebola is a deadly viral disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.

“With the insecurity, people are crowded together in the city, and since there are so many people in the city, an epidemic like this would be very serious,” Anne-Marie Dive, a resident of Bunia, the main city in Ituri, said by telephone.

The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever has killed an estimated 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years, despite advances in vaccines and treatment.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2026