The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has expanded to two additional health zones, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday, as the epidemic continues to defy containment efforts across the vast central African nation. New cases have been confirmed in Bulu, in the South Ubangi province on the border with the Central African Republic, and in Dungu, in Haut-Uele province on the border with South Sudan. The outbreak now spans 63 health zones across seven provinces, with 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths recorded as of 23 September — a fatality rate of nearly 50 percent.

The epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rarer and less well-understood variant than the Zaire strain responsible for previous outbreaks in the region. No approved vaccine or treatment currently exists for it, though the WHO says clinical trials are being accelerated. Authorities have administered the Ervebo vaccine — originally developed against the Zaire strain — to healthcare workers in some areas after studies suggested it offers partial protection. Ituri province in northeastern DRC remains the epicentre, accounting for more than 6,000 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in May, while North Kivu, a province in the east that endured three previous Ebola outbreaks including a major one from 2018 to 2020, now accounts for roughly a third of newly confirmed cases and deaths. Cases in North Kivu surged 73 percent over the past three weeks, and nearly 60 percent of patients there have died — well above the national average.

The human toll of the crisis was brought into sharp relief this week when Dr Victor Kingombe, a young internal medicine physician, died of Ebola at a treatment centre in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province. Colleagues gathered at a distance for his funeral, watching healthcare workers in full protective gear place his body in a coffin.