The WHO on Sunday issued an international alert in response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the first case confirmed in Goma, a major eastern city controlled by the anti-government armed group M23.

According to the latest figures released Saturday by the African Union's health agency (Africa CDC), 88 deaths likely due to the virus have been recorded, out of 336 suspected cases. The death of a 59-year-old Congolese man was reported in neighboring Uganda. Because the outbreak is concentrated in a hard-to-reach area, few samples have been tested in laboratories, and the figures are based primarily on suspected cases.

The DRC has experienced major Ebola outbreaks in the past. The deadliest episode resulted in nearly 2,300 deaths and 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020. The previous outbreak caused at least 34 deaths between August and December 2025.

The Ebola virus causes a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever and remains a formidable threat despite recent vaccines and treatments, which are only effective against the Zaire strain responsible for most recorded outbreaks. There is no vaccine or specific treatment to contain the spread of the Bundibugyo strain, which is causing the current epidemic and has a high fatality rate.

Ebola has caused more than 15,000 deaths in Africa over the past 50 years. During previous outbreaks, the mortality rate has fluctuated between 25% and 90%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

- "Emergency" -

The WHO on Sunday triggered its second-highest international alert level in response to an Ebola outbreak.

The ongoing epidemic, declared by Congolese and international health authorities on Friday, "constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), but does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X.

The outbreak is concentrated in Ituri, a province in northeastern Congo bordering Uganda and South Sudan. This gold-rich region experiences intense population movements due to mining activity. Furthermore, access to certain parts of the province, plagued by violence perpetrated by armed groups, is difficult for security reasons.

The first case of infection has been confirmed in Goma, a major city in the east of the country controlled by the anti-government armed group M23 and bordering Rwanda. Goma is the capital of North Kivu province, which borders Ituri.

Eastern DRC has been plagued by conflict for over 30 years. Violence intensified in early 2025 with the capture of major cities Goma and Bukavu by the M23, supported by Rwanda and its army, against overwhelmed Congolese armed forces.

"A positive case in Goma has been confirmed by tests carried out by the laboratory. It is the wife of a man who died of the Ebola virus in Bunia, who came to Goma after her husband's death while infected," Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the INRB in Kinshasa, told AFP.

Several other relatives of the deceased in Goma may have contracted the virus after coming into contact with the body, according to a local health source speaking on condition of anonymity.

- "No entry" -

According to a local administrative source and AFP journalists on the ground, the border between the DRC and Rwanda has been partially closed since Sunday morning. There is a significant flow of people and trucks crossing the Goma border post. Congolese and Rwandans cross the border daily, primarily for trade.

"I was forbidden from crossing the border. I tried to ask questions, but no one wanted to answer me," said Bernard Thimothe, a trader from Goma interviewed by AFP near the border post.

"I was allowed to cross but the return will be difficult. I will have to stay in Goma and return to Gisenyi when the situation is under control," resigned Christophe Kakule, a Congolese living in Gisenyi.

A Rwandan government source confirmed to AFP on Sunday that now only nationals are allowed to cross the border to return to their country.

The Bundibugyo variant had previously caused only two epidemics worldwide, in Uganda in 2007 (42 deaths out of 131 confirmed cases) and in the DRC in 2012 (13 deaths out of 38 confirmed cases).

"The Bundibugyo strain has no vaccine and no specific treatment," stressed Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba at a press conference on Saturday, adding that "with this strain, the fatality rate is very high, it can reach up to 50%."

According to health authorities, the first suspected case is a nurse, who presented himself on April 24 at a medical facility in Bunia, the capital of Ituri, with symptoms of Ebola infection.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since the disease was identified in 1976 in Zaire, the country's former name. Other countries on the continent have been affected by the virus in recent years, notably Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Human transmission of the virus occurs through bodily fluids or exposure to the blood of an infected person, whether living or deceased. Infected individuals only become contagious after the onset of symptoms, with an incubation period that can last up to 21 days.