Kinshasa, May 29 (IANS) The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was “very complex,” with conflict, insecurity, displacement, food shortages and community mistrust complicating efforts to contain the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.Speaking to reporters on late Thursday at the airport upon arriving in the DRC capital of Kinshasa, Tedros said he had come to show affected communities that “they are not alone” and tha…
Latest Ituri province News & Updates
Geneva, May 25 (IANS) World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) scales up surveillance in its Ebola response, more than 900 suspected cases have been identified so far, including 101 confirmed cases.In Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, nearly 5 million people live amid ongoing conflict, with one in four in need of humanitarian assistance and one in five internally displaced, Tedros said in a po…
Kinshasa, May 24 (IANS) The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has temporarily suspended all passenger flights to and from Bunia, the capital of the northeastern Ituri Province that is the epicentre of the ongoing Ebola outbreak, the Ministry of Transport have said. An Ebola outbreak was declared in Ituri on May 15, with Bunia among the main affected areas. According to an official statement on Saturday (local time), no aircraft will be allowed to land at or take off from B…
Addis Ababa, May 22 (IANS) The public health risk from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been upgraded from high to very high, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “We are revising our risk assessment of Ebola to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at global level,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.Meanwhile, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) called for enhanced s…
Seoul, May 22 (IANS) The foreign ministry said on Friday it will widen a travel ban in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to three provinces in the country amid the spread of Ebola virus disease.Effective 2 pm Friday, South Korea will issue a Level 4 travel alert, the highest level in its four-tier travel alert system, for Ituri Province in the African country due to the continued rise in deaths linked to the virus, according to the ministry, reports Yonhap news agency.With the latest measure,…
Kinshasa, May 21 (IANS) The latest Ebola outbreak has spread to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s South Kivu Province, with fresh concern surfacing over wider transmission in the volatile eastern region.On Thursday, the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group confirmed a new case in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.The group, which has been capturing the city since February 2025, said that a 28-year-old man had travelled from Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo Province, and died before his…
Geneva, May 17 (IANS) The World Health Organisation on Sunday determined that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern.”The WHO said on social media platform X that the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency. The Director-General of WHO expresses his gratitude to the leadership of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda for their commitment to…
Addis Ababa, May 15 (IANS) The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday emphasised the urgent need to enhance continental capabilities, as many African countries lack the necessary capacity to detect and respond to potential hantavirus threats.Yap Boum II, head of the emergency preparedness and response division at the Africa CDC, told an online media briefing that the agency’s recent assessment of the continent’s preparedness to hantavirus has revealed critical…
Kinshasa, May 15 (IANS) Health authorities have confirmed a new outbreak of Ebola virus disease in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Friday.Hundreds of suspected cases have been reported in Ituri Province, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).Preliminary tests by the National Institute of Biomedical Research detected the virus in 13 of 20 samples, Africa CDC said in a statement, citing consultations with the DRC’s Ministry of Health and …
Kinshasa, May 14 (IANS) The Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP), an armed group active in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), said Thursday it would observe a unilateral ceasefire ahead of what it described as preliminary talks with the Congolese government under Ugandan facilitation.In a statement released Thursday and signed by its leader, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the CRP said the ceasefire would take effect at midnight on Thursday to “give an optimal chance of succes…