First South Kivu Case Confirmed — Outbreak Spreads to Third DRC Province

A patient who died in a rural area near Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province, was confirmed positive for Bundibugyo virus on 21 May 2026, marking the first confirmed case in South Kivu and the third DRC province affected. Combined with previously confirmed cases in Ituri and Nord-Kivu (including Goma), the expansion to Sud-Kivu represented a major geographic escalation. The South Kivu case involved a patient with travel history to North Kivu, suggesting the outbreak had been spreading along displacement and trucking corridors in eastern DRC. WHO confirmed 85 total cases (confirmed) across DRC and Uganda and 746 suspected cases with 176 suspected deaths as of this date.