By Emiola Osifeso
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has declared a new outbreak of Ebola in Kasai Province, marking the countryโs 16th flare-up of the deadly virus since it was first discovered in 1976.
Health Minister Roger Kamba announced the development at a press conference in Kinshasa on Thursday, confirming that the Zaire strain of the virus has re-emerged in the Bulape health zone.
He revealed that 28 suspected cases have been recorded so far, including 15 deaths, but cautioned that the figures remain provisional as investigations continue.
According to the Ministry of Health, the index case was a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to Bulape General Reference Hospital on August 20 with fever, haemorrhage, bloody vomiting, and severe fatigue. She died five days later from multiple organ failure.
The DRC last battled Ebola in September 2022, when a single case was confirmed in North Kivu Province. Genetic testing later linked that case to the 2018โ2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri, which killed nearly 2,300 people.
Ebola, first identified in the DRC in 1976 near the Ebola River, is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever that causes symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.
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