Congo’s Ebola outbreak spreads to new health zone in Ituri

Ebola’s reach in eastern Congo widened again when the virus spread into Tchomia, a health zone about 50 kilometers south of Bunia on the shores of Lake Albert. The new case area added another layer of urgency to an outbreak that had already been declared more than three weeks earlier, showing that transmission was still moving through a region where containment should already have been taking hold.

By June 10, the number of affected health zones had climbed to 26 nationwide, including 18 in Ituri Province alone. That concentration matters because Congo’s health-zone system is the backbone of outbreak response: each zone is built around clinics and a referral hospital, and each new breach means another local network must rapidly isolate patients, trace contacts, monitor symptoms and manage safe burials before the virus spreads further.

The health ministry said Ituri accounted for more than 94 percent of confirmed cases, making the province the center of the epidemic and the main test of the response. As of June 6, the World Health Organization said Congo had reported 515 confirmed cases and 91 deaths, with infections in 25 health zones across Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. Sixteen confirmed infections had also been reported among health and care workers, a sign that the virus was slipping into the very system meant to stop it.

The outbreak was first declared on May 15 in Ituri Province, and WHO moved to classify it as a public health emergency of international concern on May 17. The disease involved Bundibugyo virus disease, for which WHO said there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, leaving rapid surveillance, contact tracing, clinical isolation and community cooperation as the main defenses. WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also launched a continental preparedness and response plan on June 5, seeking $518 million to shore up readiness across Africa.

Tchomia’s location heightens concern. Sitting near Lake Albert and close to regional transport routes, it creates another point where movement of people and goods could carry the virus across communities or borders if tracing falls behind. A Reuters image of a Red Cross burial team handling the coffin of a man who died of Ebola captured how central burial practices remain to stopping spread.

The broader warning is clear: Congo is no longer dealing with a fixed cluster near Bunia, but with a widening outbreak that is testing surveillance gaps, contact tracing capacity and vaccine logistics at the same time. Human Rights Watch urged authorities and partners to prioritize community engagement and limit the role of security forces, arguing that years of conflict, abuse and neglect have already weakened trust in health systems. With the previous Congo outbreak ending in December 2025 and this being the country’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since 1976, the challenge is not just discovering cases faster, but outpacing a virus that is already moving across a larger map.