The Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded more than 1,000 Ebola cases in an outbreak that health officials say is spreading across several provinces.
The Congolese Ministry of Health said on Sunday, May 24, that the country had registered 904 suspected cases and 101 confirmed cases of Ebola across three provinces and 11 health zones. At least 10 deaths have been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak is centered in Ituri Province, where armed violence and mass displacement have complicated efforts to trace contacts and isolate infected persons. The United Nations estimates that nearly 922,000 internally displaced people are currently living in Ituri.
The current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. The first suspected case was reported on April 24 in a health worker in eastern DRC who later died.
The Ministry of Health said surveillance and screening activities were continuing in affected areas.
“Health authorities continue surveillance, screening, and awareness activities in the affected areas,” the ministry said in a statement. “Vigilance and adherence to prevention measures remain essential.”
The outbreak has also spread into Uganda, where authorities have confirmed five Ebola cases and one death.
On May 16, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern after the DRC officially announced its 17th Ebola outbreak a day earlier. On Friday, the WHO raised the national risk level for DRC to “very high,” while maintaining the regional risk at “high” and the global risk at “low.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said insecurity in the region was slowing emergency response operations.
“The violence is forcing people to flee, including health and humanitarian workers,” Tedros said on Sunday. “This is severely impeding efforts to scale up Ebola contact tracing and identify infections early enough to provide supportive care.”
In Nigeria, authorities say no Ebola cases have been recorded, but preventive measures have been tightened at airports and border entry points.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), working with Port Health Services and other agencies, held a preparedness workshop at Murtala Muhammed International Airport over the weekend to review response procedures.
Officials said temperature screening, passenger health monitoring, and QR code-based health declaration systems had been strengthened for travelers arriving from high-risk countries, including DRC and Uganda.
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) also advised Nigerians to remain alert and report suspected symptoms quickly.
Medical experts have warned against hunting or eating bush meat during the outbreak, noting that bats and some primates are known carriers of the Ebola virus.
“Nigerians should stop hunting for bush meat and the consumption of bush meat during the outbreak of Ebola,” a consultant public health physician said in comments published Sunday.
Nigeria previously experienced an Ebola outbreak in 2014 after an infected traveler arrived in Lagos. Eight people died before the outbreak was contained through isolation, contact tracing, and public health monitoring.
