Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has escalated, with 896 confirmed cases and 232 deaths reported across 31 health zones as of 17 June. Uganda has also confirmed 19 cases and two deaths, according to updates from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The outbreak is unfolding amid armed conflict between Congolese authorities and the M23 armed group in eastern DR Congo, displacing over two million people, including more than 320,000 refugees. WHO has called for a ceasefire to enable safe delivery of assistance.
The risk of cross-border Ebola transmission has increased due to trade, family ties, and refugee movements linking DR Congo with neighboring Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and South Sudan. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is collaborating with governments, WHO, and partners to strengthen surveillance, screening, infection prevention, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services in refugee-hosting areas and border corridors, while aiming not to hinder people seeking safety.
On 7 June, UNHCR monitored the arrival of about 2,250 people fleeing armed group activity near Beni, an epicenter of the outbreak, to Oicha, a North Kivu zone already hosting over 14,300 displaced persons and affected by Ebola.
WHO interim regional emergency director Dr. Marie Roseline Belizaire reported that over 115 UN health agency experts have been deployed to affected provinces and more than 110 metric tonnes of emergency supplies delivered to support frontline operations. Expanding diagnostic and treatment capacities remains challenging in some high-risk areas due to limited access.
The outbreak is occurring in a highly mobile cross-border region with significant daily movement of people seeking safety, work, healthcare, and family. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has conducted over one million health screenings and is increasing operations to better understand and address human mobility patterns critical for containing disease spread.