Mpox Case Confirmed in Bunia, the Epicenter of DRC's Ebola Outbreak

A laboratory confirmed a case of mpox in Bunia, Ituri — the epicenter of DRC's Ebola outbreak — on Friday 25 September 2026, per Reuters. A 21-year-old woman admitted to hospital Thursday with lesions consistent with mpox tested positive the next day; a second suspected case, a 32-year-old woman, awaited lab results, and five suspected mpox cases in Bunia were under investigation in total. Dr. Adelard Lofungola, a health official who served as deputy incident manager for DRC's mpox response, said the Ebola outbreak's strain on the health system was complicating efforts to monitor other infections, and that mpox activity has increased in several parts of the country over the past month. DRC had declared an end to mpox as a national public health emergency in April 2026 after a three-year outbreak with more than 34,000 confirmed cases nationwide. The finding raises the prospect of a second hemorrhagic/vesicular disease circulating simultaneously in the same city (Bunia has 7,890 Ebola cases and 3,799 deaths recorded nationally as of 23 September).