DR Congo probes possible Ebola cases as Uganda declares outbreak

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are investigating 12 suspected Ebola cases in the country’s northwest, though initial tests have returned negative, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

The cases, including seven deaths, were reported in Equateur province, a region where dense tropical forests serve as a natural reservoir for the deadly virus. Congo has faced more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks in the past, including a 2018–2020 outbreak that claimed nearly 2,300 lives—the second deadliest on record.

“I hope we won’t confirm this outbreak, because it would be too much for this country,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya told reporters.

Preliminary tests conducted in the provincial capital came back negative, but further analysis is being carried out in Kinshasa, Africa CDC official Ngashi Ngongo told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Uganda, Congo’s northeastern neighbor, has declared an Ebola outbreak in the capital, Kampala, with one confirmed death.

Equateur province has previously experienced three Ebola outbreaks, the most recent in 2022.

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