According to local authorities, the Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has spread to the northwestern province of Sud-Ubangi following the confirmation of a new case.
The acting governor of Sud-Ubangi, Jean-René Galekwa Vundave, stated in an official declaration that laboratory tests detected the presence of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in a sample. This led to the declaration of an outbreak in the province.
It is important to note that the province of Sud-Ubangi does not border any of the six provinces where Ebola cases were previously recorded: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Auto-Uele, Tshopo, and Bas-Uele.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the source of infection or any known epidemiological link to the existing outbreak. He added that surveillance will continue to be strengthened, patient treatment ensured, and efforts made to break chains of transmission.
According to the latest official data, as of September 8, the DRC registered 6,843 confirmed cases of Ebola, of which 3,310 people died and 1,611 recovered. The fatality rate was 48.4%.
The current outbreak, declared in May, is the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the country's history, and also the second-largest Ebola outbreak in the world after the 2014–2016 epidemic in West Africa.