Ebola case confirmed in rebel-held Congo area far from outbreak’s epicentre

Key points

• A case of Ebola has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province— hundreds of kilometres from the outbreak’s ​epicentre— the rebel alliance that controls the area said on Thursday (May 21, 2026).
• The case, ⁠in a rural area near the provincial capital Bukavu, signals the spread of an outbreak that experts believe circulated undetected for around two months in Ituri province, several hundred kilometres to the north, before being identified last week.
• The outbreak has been linked to 139 deaths, with 600 suspected cases reported in Ituri and North Kivu provinces as of Wednesday (May 20, 2026), according to the World Health Organization.
• Two cases have also been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda.
• The Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes ⁠the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized swathes of eastern DRC last year, said that ⁠the 28-year-old patient had died and been buried safely.