(FILES) Health workers treat an unconfirmed Ebola patient, inside a MSF (Doctors Without Borders) supported Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) on November 3, 2018 in Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 15 people since the end of August, the health minister said on September 4, 2025. The outbreak is in central Kasai province, the minister said. The last outbreak in the vast central African nation was three years ago and killed six people. (Photo by John WESSELS / AFP)
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have confirmed a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in central Kasai Province, which has claimed 15 lives since late August.
Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba announced on Thursday in Kinshasa that this marks the country’s 16th recorded Ebola outbreak. The last outbreak, three years ago, killed six people.
So far, 28 suspected cases have been identified, with the first traced to a 34-year-old pregnant woman admitted to hospital on August 20. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the number of cases could rise and has sent experts to join the Congolese response team in Kasai.
The DRC has stockpiled Ebola treatments and will deploy 2,000 vaccine doses from Kinshasa to Kasai. WHO’s Africa Regional Director, Mohamed Janabi, said efforts are underway to contain the virus quickly and protect communities.
The current outbreak is caused by the Zaire strain of Ebola, for which a vaccine exists. However, logistical challenges remain in transporting vaccines across the vast country, which suffers from poor infrastructure.
Ebola, first identified in 1976 and believed to originate from bats, spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe bleeding and organ failure. The deadliest DRC outbreak, between 2018 and 2020, killed nearly 2,300 people.
