Only one month after the end of DR Congo’s 14th Ebola outbreak, a new case of the virus was discovered in the eastern province of North Kivu, as confirmed by the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB).

A 46-year-old woman died on 15 August 2022 in Beni after being hospitalised for three weeks. Her case might be linked to the country’s longest and largest outbreak from 2018-2020, research implies.

“Ebola resurgences are occurring with greater frequency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is concerning. However, health authorities in North Kivu have successfully stopped several Ebola flare-ups, and building on this expertise will no doubt bring this one under control quickly,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. The last flare-up in North Kivu was declared over on 16 December 2021.

On 20 September 2022, neighbouring Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola when the Sudan virus was detected in a 24-year-old male, in the central Mubende district. The Sudan variant differs from the strain causing the outbreaks in DR Congo, and its last known appearance in Uganda was more than a decade ago. The most recent outbreak in the country was in 2019, when the Zaire ebolavirus claimed at least five lives.