Ebola Outbreak Reaches Two New Zones in DRC as Total Affected Areas Hit 60

The fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak in history has now reached two new health zones in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing the total number of affected areas to 60 according to recent government figures.

According to data released on Friday by the Ministry of Health, the newly affected zones are Biena and Manguredjipa in North Kivu province. These areas face a fatality rate significantly higher than the overall 48 percent average, largely due to delayed response efforts.

The ministry reported that the DRC outbreak has reached 5,794 confirmed cases, which includes 2,786 deaths. The virus is spreading at an unprecedented speed that currently outpaces containment and tracking efforts.

Containment operations have faced severe obstacles due to armed conflict in the affected provinces, population displacement, attacks on medical facilities and personnel, a mobile working population, and critical infrastructure shortages. This trajectory puts the epidemic on course to exceed the deadliest on record—the 2014 to 2016 West African outbreak that claimed over 11,000 lives.

In response, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Friday the opening of a new treatment centre in Beni, located in North Kivu in the country's northeast. The facility aims to speed up responses in one of the hardest-hit regions.

Beni has documented 122 confirmed cases and 87 deaths since the outbreak began in mid-May, marking a fatality rate near 69 percent—one of the highest nationwide, according to government data.

Aid workers have cited limited bed capacity as a major hurdle in managing the outbreak. MSF stated that the new center facilitates rapid patient treatment, strengthens contact tracing, and aids health authorities in halting the transmission of the virus.

Because there is no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain—a rarer virus type than those behind most past outbreaks—relief workers must rely on traditional containment strategies such as patient isolation and contact tracing.

Currently, MSF maintains 1,400 staff members in DRC to support response operations and manages treatment centers providing a combined total of 400 beds.

MSF emergency coordinator Albert Stern noted that early diagnosis and treatment upon the appearance of initial symptoms greatly improve survival rates while decreasing the risk of transmission within families and communities.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned that the epidemic is outpacing containment measures, stating on X that it represents the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic ever recorded and urging the global community to urgently step up action.