WHO chief heads to ‘hardest hit’ Ituri as DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak spreads
DRC battles Bundibugyo strain as confirmed cases rise to 121, with 17 deaths and 246 suspected fatalities reported.
![Medical staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry the body of a patient deceased at the hospital in Rwampara towards the cemetery [AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/afp_6a10642409db-1779459108.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
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Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. [Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo]
DRC health authorities report 148 suspected deaths and nearly 600 suspected Ebola cases, with one death in neighbouring Uganda, according to the United Nations. [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]
A Congolese police officer guards the Ebola treatment centre after the facility was burned down in Rwampara. [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]
The head of the WHO says the current Ebola outbreak is almost certainly much larger than reported and is spreading rapidly. [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]
Medical staff prepare to disinfect an Ebola treatment centre after a fire at the facility in Rwampara. [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]
Police fire warning shots and tear gas as protesters dispute the burial of a suspected Ebola victim, a local footballer, and set fire to tents used for Ebola patients. [Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo]
The incident highlights the struggle Congolese authorities face in enforcing safe burials for people with confirmed and suspected cases, a measure seen as crucial to containing the outbreak. [Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo]
The tents were completely destroyed in the fire, along with a body that was due to be buried that day. Six patients who had been receiving treatment there have been transferred to the hospital, where they are now being cared for. [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]
Mistrust and disinformation hampered the response to previous Ebola outbreaks in DRC. During the 2018–2020 outbreak in North Kivu province – the second-deadliest on record, with nearly 2,300 deaths – hundreds of health centres were attacked by armed groups and angry civilians. [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]
The latest outbreak in the DRC is the 17th to hit the vast central African country of more than 100 million people. [Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo]
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