The Ebola virus has infected more than 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the death toll climbing to 254, as the outbreak continues its rapid spread across eastern provinces and into additional displacement camps.
Health authorities confirmed the latest fatalities include an 18-month-old girl who died in the Hungbe displacement camp after testing positive for the virus.
According to a Congolese health report, the toddler developed a fever more than a week before her death. She was carried on foot to two different health centres, where she received antibiotics, before finally being tested on June 14. She succumbed the following day, before her positive result was confirmed.
The case has raised serious concerns, with at least 107 people including family members, healthcare workers, and individuals from other camps identified as having come into contact with the child.
Dr Emmanuel Musingusi Bulemu, a health official in the surrounding Nizi zone, highlighted the dire lack of isolation facilities. “We need to separate these patients from the community because they risk infecting others, but where can we put them?” he said.
The outbreak has now reached a third displacement camp, with two confirmed cases reported in Kpangba. At least 30 people have also died in a camp near Bunia.
The virus is spreading across three provinces in eastern Congo, an area already strained by decades of conflict between armed groups, militias, and the national army.
African health experts have warned that, if unchecked, the current outbreak could surpass the devastating 2014–2016 West African epidemic, which claimed more than 11,000 lives.
Preliminary data from UNICEF indicates that children make up nearly one-fifth of confirmed cases so far. A smaller number of infections have also been recorded in neighbouring Uganda.
Congolese authorities and international health partners are racing to contain the spread amid challenging humanitarian conditions in the displacement camps.
Further updates on containment efforts and international response are expected in the coming days.
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