Ebola Reaches DRC's Seventh Province as Patient Dies in Gwaka, Sud-Ubangi After 2,000km Journey Through Rwanda and Uganda

A 23-year-old man died Tuesday, 9 September 2026, in Gwaka, Sud-Ubangi province — the first confirmed Bundibugyo virus case and death in the province, making it the seventh DRC province affected by the outbreak and the first in the country's west, bordering the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo. Provincial authorities said the man had traveled roughly three weeks earlier from Kamanyola, South Kivu, through Rwanda and Uganda before re-entering DRC via Ituri province, then traveling west through Aru, Bunia, Kisangani (Tshopo, where he developed symptoms), Bumba, Lisala (Mongala, where he spent two days at a health center) and Akula en route to Gwaka, where his case was confirmed by DRC's National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB). Acting Sud-Ubangi Governor Jean-René Galekwa Vundawe said 38 people identified as contacts have been placed in quarantine, and warned the patient's route 'exposes the population' of Nord-Ubangi, Tshopo and Mongala provinces as well. Local lawmaker and former health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said the development 'worries me... our province borders Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic.' The case brings the outbreak, per the same-week ECDC and national tallies, to roughly 6,900-6,950 cases and 3,300-3,350 deaths across seven provinces, and per AP reporting is tracking toward surpassing the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic's 11,310-death toll.