DR Congo Ebola outbreak tops 400 deaths as virus reaches major city
Key takeaways
- By: FRANCE 24 Red Cross workers lower the coffin of Dr.
- The centre of the outbreak -- whose true scale remains difficult to assess -- was in the northeastern Ituri province, where more than 83 percent of the deaths have occurred.
- The province borders South Sudan and Uganda, which has reported 20 cases including two deaths.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 400 people and continues to spread, with health authorities confirming a first case in the major city of Kisangani, hundreds of kilometres from the epidemic's epicentre in the northeast.
By: FRANCE 24 Red Cross workers lower the coffin of Dr. Tibenderana Katho Blaise who worked at the Centre Medical Evangelique (CME) in Hoho commune and died of Ebola virus, in Bunia town, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, 26 May 2026. © Gradel Muyisa Mumbere, Reuters An Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo has killed more than 400 people and is still spreading, with a first case reported in the major city of Kisangani nearly 600 kilometres (370 miles) from its epicentre.
The highly infectious disease has claimed 438 lives among the 1,406 people confirmed infected -- a fatality rate of just over 31 percent -- since the outbreak was declared on May 15, the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) said in its latest report published on Thursday.