KINSHASA, October 19 — The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to an eighth province, health authorities confirmed Sunday, deepening concern over a flare-up that has already claimed thousands of lives since it began in May.
According to the latest ministry report, new cases were recorded in Nord-Ubangi province in the north, where two men in their twenties in the Wapinda health zone tested positive; one has died. The ministry did not specify the source of infection.
As of Friday, the country had registered 9,415 confirmed cases and 4,536 deaths since the outbreak started in May, a case fatality rate of 48.2 percent. The expansion into a previously unaffected province signals that containment efforts have yet to halt transmission along remote riverine and cross-border routes.
Officials have stepped up surveillance and contact tracing in the new zone, while international health partners are weighing additional deployments of personnel and supplies. The strain circulating in this outbreak carries one of the highest fatality rates among known Ebola variants, placing acute pressure on treatment centres already stretched by simultaneous outbreaks of other communicable diseases.
Authorities continue to appeal for calm, stressing that the disease spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and that early treatment significantly improves survival odds.