SitRep 009

Report date 2026-05-23

Published

May 23, 2026

Caution

Machine translation from the French original with Google Gemini. No person has reviewed it.

Every number on this page was compared against the French transcription, and the page is published only if they match. The wording carries no such check. Before relying on any figure, read it in the original PDF.

Affected provinces (3) ITURI, NORD-KIVU, SUD-KIVU Affected Health Zones (11) ITURI: Aru, Bunia, Kilo, Mongbwalu, Nizi, Nyankunde and Rwampara NORD-KIVU: Butembo, Goma and Katwa SUD-KIVU: Miti-Murhesa Reporting date 23 May 2026 Publication date 24 May 2026

101 Cumulative confirmed cases 10 Cumulative deaths among confirmed cases 904 Cumulative suspected cases 119 Cumulative suspected Deaths ND (not available) Bed occupancy rate among suspected cases ND Bed occupancy rate among confirmed cases 0 Recovered ND Cumulative confirmed cases CTE (Ebola treatment centre)

Table I. Distribution of confirmed cases and deaths by health zone in affected provinces as of 23/05/2026
Affected provinces Health zones with confirmed cases New confirmed cases New deaths among confirmed New probable cases New suspected cases New contacts listed Recovered of the day
Ituri Bunia 0 0 ND 22 43 0
Ituri Rwampara 0 0 ND 3 0 0
Ituri Mongbwalu 9 0 ND ND 0 0
Ituri Bambu 0 0 ND ND ND 0
Ituri Nyankunde 0 0 ND ND 0 0
Ituri Nizi 0 0 ND 0 7 0
Ituri Kilo 0 0 ND 8 ND 0
Ituri Subtotal 9 0 0 33 50 0
Nord-Kivu Goma 0 0 ND ND ND 0
Nord-Kivu Butembo 0 0 ND ND ND 0
Nord-Kivu Katwa 1 0 ND ND ND 0
Sud Kivu Miti Murhesa 0 0 ND ND ND 0
Sud Kivu Subtotal 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 10 0 0 33 50 0

[PHOTO] A tripartite cross-border collaboration meeting between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of South Sudan was organised in Kampala on this 23 May 2026 as part of strengthening preparedness and response to the 17th epidemic of Ebola Virus Disease (Bundibugyo strain). This activity aimed to harmonise mechanisms for surveillance, alert notification, suspected case management and cross-border contact tracing at Points of Entry (PoE) and Points of Control

I. CONTEXT

Ituri Province is located in the North-East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and shares a long border with Uganda and South Sudan. For more than two decades, it has been confronted with a chronic humanitarian crisis linked to armed conflicts and recurrent population displacements. It has an estimated population of more than 8 million inhabitants among whom more than one million are internally displaced persons.

In September 2018, this province was affected by an epidemic of Ebola virus disease that was raging in the neighbouring province of Nord-Kivu.

The Mongbwalu health zone is one of the 36 health zones of Ituri province. Considered as the starting point of the epidemic, it is located in the territory of Djugu where several armed groups operate. It is located 70 km from Bunia, capital of Ituri province, with frequent population movements towards Uganda. This locality has the particularity of having several mining/construction sites that attract populations coming from other territories of the province and neighbouring provinces.

II. HISTORY OF THE EPIDEMIC

On the date of 05 May 2026, social networks declare an outbreak of deaths of unknown cause with nearly 50 deaths already recorded in the Mongbwalu health zone. After confirmation of this alert, the Chief Medical Officer of the Mongbwalu health zone shares the preliminary investigation report on 09 May 2026. On 11 May 2026, the provincial health authorities organise an emergency meeting and decide to deploy rapid response teams to Mongbwalu and to Rwampara, which had reported suspected deaths from viral haemorrhagic fever among patients admitted to the Evangelical Medical Centre of Rwampara, originating from Mongbwalu.

The investigations conducted on 12 May 2026, simultaneously in the health zones of Mongbwalu and Rwampara by the Rapid Response Teams of the Provincial Health Division (DPS) of Ituri, revealed that most suspected patients or deaths had fever, headaches, vomiting, severe physical asthenia. Deaths occurred 2 to 3 days after disease onset with a clinical presentation of haematemesis, epistaxis or blackish vomiting. During the investigations in the Rwampara health zone, 20 samples from suspected cases or deaths were collected. The majority of persons sampled came from the Mongbwalu health zone. Preliminary tests performed at the Bunia Laboratory were all negative for Zaire ebolavirus, dengue, Rotavirus, Cholera, Malaria, Yersinia pestis, mpox and COVID-19. These samples were sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) in Kinshasa for additional testing.

On the date of 14 May 2026, 13 cases of these 20 samples were tested and 8 turned out positive for non-Zaire Ebola virus disease at INRB Kinshasa. On 15 May 2026, sequencing of the positive samples identified the BUNDIBUGYO strain, which enabled the Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare (MSHPS) to officially declare the 17th epidemic of Ebola virus disease.

Ebola virus disease (Bundibugyo strain), thus marking the 17th epidemic in the country’s history

On the date of 17 May 2026, in consultation with member states, the Director-General of WHO considers that the event occurring in DRC and Uganda meets the definition criteria set out in Article 1 of the IHR, and declared that this constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern while specifying that the risk at the global level is low but high at the regional level.

On 18 May 2026, the Director-General of Africa CDC officially declared a public health emergency of continental security (PHECS) under Article 3 of its statutes. This declaration followed an emergency meeting of the Africa CDC advisory group, which assessed that the worsening epidemic constituted an acute risk to continental health security. Consequently, the continental incident management support team was activated to provide support to affected Member States and those exposed to risks, in response and preparedness.

[FIGURE: TIMELINE OF EVENTS]

III. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SITUATION UPDATE

● 10 New confirmed Cases (Mongbwalu: 9 and Katwa: 1) ● Cumulative confirmed cases in Ituri to 23 May 2026: 94 cases, Nord Kivu 6 cases and Sud Kivu 1 case ● Three affected provinces: ITURI, NORD-KIVU and SUD-KIVU: ● ITURI: epicentre with 7/36 ZS (health zone) affected (Rwampara, Bunia, Mongbwalu, Nyankunde, Nizi, Kilo and Aru,) ● NORD-KIVU: 3/35 ZS affected (Goma, Butembo and Katwa) ● SUD-KIVU: 1/34 ZS affected (Miti-Murhesa)

IV. RESPONSE ACTIONS

COORDINATION

● Collection of SDB materials at the WFP warehouse;

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE

▪ Briefing on alert tracking at DPS level including members of civil protection (2 persons); ▪ Implementation of surveillance activities in the field (alert escalation, investigations, active case finding, contact listing and contact tracing, retrospective documentary review of cases and deaths etc).

Table II. Summary of the alert situation as of 23 May 2026
Health zones Alerts carried over (21/05) New alerts (22/05) Total alerts of the day (22/05) Live alerts Deceased alerts Alerts investigated Alerts not investigated Alerts validated Alerts invalidated Suspected cases sampled Suspected cases not sampled Suspected cases isolated Suspected cases not isolated
BUNIA 6 21 27 21 6 25 2 22 3 5 17 22 0
RWAMPARA 7 9 16 10 6 10 6 7 3 7 0 3 4 (deaths)
NYANKUNDE ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
MONGBWALU ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
NIZI 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 (death)
ARU 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
KILO 0 18 18 18 0 8 10 8 0 8 0 8 0
BAMBU ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
ADI ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
LITA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
FATAKI 0 2 2 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0
LOGO 0 4 4 2 2 4 0 4 0 4 0 2 2 (deaths)
AUNGBA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
RETHY ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
KOMANDA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
NYARAMBE ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
TCHOMIA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
DRODRO 0 2 2 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0
MAMBASSA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
MANGALA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
LOLWA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
TOTAL 13 58 71 56 15 53 18 47 6 30 17 40 7
Table III. Summary of contact identification and follow-up as of 23 May 2026
Health zones Daily follow-up Carried over from 23/05/2026 Daily follow-up New contacts on 20/05/2026 Daily follow-up Contacts to follow up this day Daily follow-up Contacts seen Daily follow-up Discharges 21 Days Daily follow-up Became Suspects Follow-up rate Total not seen Reason not seen Simple Absence Reason not seen Lost to follow-up (≥72 hours) Reason not seen Never seen Reason not seen Refusal Reason not seen Displaced Reason not seen Reco (community health worker) did not visit Remaining to follow up the following day
BUNIA 361 43 404 71 0 0 17,6 % 333 0 0 0 0 0 333 404
RWAMPARA 621 0 621 ND 0 ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND 621
NYANKUNDE 365 0 365 ND 0 ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND 365
MONGBWALU 222 0 222 ND 0 ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND 222
NIZI 15 7 22 15 0 1 68,2 % 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 22
ARU ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND 0
KILO ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND 0
Total 1603 142 1745 351 0 13 20% 1394 99 1 0 0 0 1294 1745
Table IV. Distribution of suspected and confirmed Ebola virus disease cases and deaths in the health zones of DPS Ituri, Nord-Kivu and Sud Kivu as of 23 May 2026*
Provinces Health zones No. of suspected cases No. of suspected deaths** No. of Confirmed cases No. of contacts
Ituri Aru 4 1 1 0
Ituri Bambu 6 2 0 183
Ituri Bunia 249 48 24 404
Ituri Kilo 6 2 1 0
Ituri Mongbwalu 339 88 19 222
Ituri Nizi 6 2 2 22
Ituri Nyankunde 45 8 9 365
Ituri Rwampara 228 69 32 621
Ituri Samples without form 0 0 6 0
Nord-Kivu Butembo 7 0 1 ND
Nord-Kivu Goma 0 0 1 ND
Nord-Kivu Katwa 13 0 4 ND
Sud-Kivu Miti Murhesa 1 0 1 ND
Total Total 904 119 101 1817

*These data are subject to change following harmonisation of data at different levels of the health pyramid with the incident management system. ** Classification will be confirmed following investigations

[FIGURE: Figure 1. Trend of confirmed cases in DPS Ituri by date of symptom onset (source: partial DHIS2 Tracker)]

[FIGURE: Epidemic curve of suspected EVD cases (Ituri Province) Source: DHIS2 Tracker as of 22-May-2026 (n=311 suspected cases: 232 with date of symptom onset)]

[FIGURE: Epidemic curve of confirmed and probable EVD cases (Ituri Province) Source: DHIS2 Tracker as of 22-May-2026 (n=48 suspected cases: 28 with date of symptom onset)]

[FIGURE: Distribution by Sex and Age of confirmed EVD cases as of 22 May 2026]

[FIGURE: Daily trend of confirmed and probable cases by health zone]

[FIGURE: Daily trend of suspected cases by health zone]

Surveillance at Points of Entry and Points of Control (PoE/PoC)

● Table V. Summary of data (PoE/PoC) of 23/05/2026

Table V. Summary of data (PoE/PoC) of 23/05/2026
Health zone PoE/PoC Travellers Travellers screened Total handwashing Travellers sensitised Tot alerts Tot handwashing refusals Tot screening refusals
NIZI PONT NIZI ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
BUNIA AEROPORT 1332 1332 1332 1332 0 0 0
BUNIA MUDZIBALA 2028 1924 1924 2028 0 104 104
BUNIA PONT SIMBILIABO ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
RWAMPARA PONT SHARI 1800 1739 1739 1800 0 61 61
RWAMPARA DELE 1109 1O57 52 1109 0 52 52
RWAMPARA CHAI 243 200 200 243 0 43 43
TCHOMIA TCHOMIA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TCHOMIA NYAMUSASI 167 148 148 167 0 19 19
TCHOMIA KASENYI ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
TCHOMIA MANDJE ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
NYAKUNDE MARABO ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
NYAKUNDE ENTREE NYAK. ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
NYAKUNDE SOTA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
NYAKUNDE PONT TALOLO ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
MONGBWALU POIPO ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
MONGBWALU MAHIDEDE ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
MONGBWALU PONT PLITO ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
MONGBWALU PONT KIRIKOU ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
ARU OFOO 392 358 358 392 0 34 34
ARU ODHUMONI 317 289 289 317 0 28 28
ARU OMBAYI 175 152 152 175 0 23 23
ARU SANS PLAINTE 121 103 103 121 0 18 18
ARU VIS-A-VIS 87 71 71 87 0 16 16
ARU KENGEZI-BASE 51 37 37 51 0 14 14

LABORATORY

Total
Cumulative samples received 418
Re-samplings (control) 3
Cumulative samples analysed 211
Cumulative positives 101
DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLES TESTED AT BUNIA LAB BY TYPE
Date Origin/ZS Number of samples Sample types Blood Sample types Swab Resampling
23/05/2026 Bunia 25 20 5 0
23/05/2026 Bambu-mine 2 1 1 0
23/05/2026 Boga 1 1 0 0
23/05/2026 Nyakunde 5 5 0 0
23/05/2026 Rwampara 12 10 2 0
23/05/2026 Lita 1 1 0 0
23/05/2026 Logo 2 2 0 0
23/05/2026 Mongbwalu 22 18 4 0
TOTAL TOTAL 70 58 12 0
DISTRIBUTION OF RESAMPLED SAMPLES
Date Origin/ZS Resampling Diagnostic Results P1 Positive Diagnostic Results P1 Negative Diagnostic Results P2 Positive Diagnostic Results P2 Negative Follow-up Results P3 to P5 Positive Follow-up Results P3 to P5 Negative
22/05/2026 Nyakunde 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22/05/2026 Mongbwalu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL TOTAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLES TESTED AT BUNIA LAB BY TYPE
Date Origin/ZS Number of samples tested Sample types Blood Sample types Swab Resampling Positive Blood Positive Swab Negative Blood Negative Swab Indeterminate Blood Indeterminate Swab
23/05/2026 Nyakunde 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
23/05/2026 Mongbwalu 19 19 0 0 9 0 10 0 0 0
TOTAL TOTAL 22 22 0 0 9 0 13 0 0 0

❑ Dispatch of 257 samples to INRB Kinshasa (135 unanalysed samples (123 blood and 12 swabs), 74 QC and 33 sequencings).

RISK COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (RCCE)

• Advocacy with the mayors of the communes of SHARI, NYAKASANZA and MBUNYA to secure their engagement in support of communication activities for the MVE (Ebola virus disease) response advocacy • Briefing of 19 department heads operating at Bunia airport including 15 men and 4 women on MVE and preventive measures in public aspects • Sensitisation of 38 livestock breeders and cattle traders at the Bunia industrial slaughterhouse on preventive measures against MVE, including 16 women and 22 men. • Educational talk with 30 women during a preschool clinic session on preventive measures against MVE, Bunia ZS, BIGO AS (health area)

INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL

Bunia ZS • Joint PCI (infection prevention and control)- Case management supervision of CT (transit centre) Bunia for circuit definition; • Briefing of one provider and 1 TS in LEMBABO CSR on waste management; • Baseline score card evaluation at SOFEPADI/AERO AS (38,8%) and Briefing of TS in handwashing technique. • 5 SDB conducted out of 7 alerts (1 HGR Bunia, 2 SOFEPADI, 1 Clinique CITADELLE, 1 Clinique les Mérites); • Decontamination of the 4 wards where the deceased cases were located (1 HGR Bunia, 2 SOFEPADI, 1 Clinique CITADELLE); • Briefing of 2 Midwives in UNIBU CH on waste management, donning and doffing of PPE and provision of 10 waste buckets

Rwampara ZS ▪ Briefing of 14 providers and 2 TS on biomedical waste management; ▪ 2 SDB conducted out of 2 alert cases in the community (SHARI) ▪ Decontamination in 2 households around the case.

Mongbwalu ZS • SDB conducted on 8 alert cases (1 Quartier Dépôt, 4 ZUBUDA, 2 SHUNI, 1 at Deux cent) • Lack of mobility for teams, number of daily death alerts > 10; • Response team services: insufficient compared to needs, • Coffins are lacking in some families and this delays SDBs hence the need to make them available

NYAKUNDE ZS - Decontamination of a household in MARABO and IEM Nyakunde boarding school.

DPS Nord Kivu • Decontamination of Matanda Hospital where the confirmed case from Katwa ZS is admitted; • PCI score card evaluation of Matanda Hospital: 70,6%; • Performance of case mapping; • Assessment of the CTE to identify requirements for PCI supplies (PPE, water supply, waste management, patient flow).

LOGISTICS

❖ Preparation of dispatch of PCI supplies and Sampling kits for Mongbwalu ZS ❖ Supply of PCI inputs to the 8 Category 1 health facilities: ❖ HGR BAMBU (DJUGU ZS) ❖ HGR LOLWA ❖ HGR BUNIA ❖ HGR NIZI

Bunia ZS: CH Bunia cité, Emérite, PNC, clinique Unibu, C.R Lambabo ➢ Receipt of 5 vehicles, support from UG-PDSS ➢ Logistical support to interventions of the various pillars in the field for transport towards the axes: Rwampara, Nyakunde, Bunia, Kilo and Mungbwalu

HOLISTIC CARE

• 9 positive cases of the day, all from Mongbwalu; • One of 3 tents burnt in Mongbwalu; • Escape of 18 suspects in Mongbwalu after yesterday’s incident; • One female patient who escaped from Rwampara refuses to return despite awareness raising; • 1 confirmed escapee PPL (person released from treatment (discharged patient)) from Nyankunde readmitted in critical condition; • 5 Positive cases discharged from CME CH (Clinical improvement) whose results came back positive; • Patients wandering in other wards in the form of a revolt; • 1 positive patient from Hoho CS released under pressure (Unsuccessful interview conducted by our psychosocial worker this morning); • Nutritional case management started with Alima; • Provision of equipment: Oxygen concentrator, multiparameter monitor.

Table VI. Patient movement in healthcare facilities as of 23/05/2026
Indicators Bunia ZS Rwampara ZS Mongbwalu ZS Nyankunde ZS Aru ZS Grand Total
Carry-over (Number of patients present in bed at the end of the previous day) 41 21 28 26 2 118
New Admissions of the day PPL 3 2 0 3 0 8
New Admissions of the day Others 6 2 3 4 0 15
New Admissions of the day Total new admissions of the day 9 4 3 7 2 25
Total headcount in isolation 50 25 31 33 2 141
Cumulative patients admitted to isolation 112 54 65 36 3 270
Discharges Recovered 0 0 0 0 0 0
Discharges Deceased 7 4 1 0 0 12
Discharges Cumulative deaths 57 34 48 1 1 141
Discharges Non-Cases 0 0 0 0 0 0
Discharges Escapees 5 0 18 0 0 23
Discharges Transferred to HGR (general referral hospital) 0 2 0 0 0 2

SECURITY

• The security situation in the city of Bunia (Bunia and Rwampara ZS) is relatively calm • Security briefing to deployed teams.

V. CHALLENGES

• Resistance of the community to decontamination of their households (Rwampara ZS) • Contact tracing still remains suboptimal requiring cascade briefings (IS, IT, community health workers) in active and high-risk ZS; • Transport difficulties of provincial and ZS level teams still persist (one vehicle per ZS, no motorbike) • Insufficient Protection Kits for teams in the field; • Non-deployment of the multidisciplinary RRT in Mongbwalu ZS, Aru ZS and high-risk ZS.

VI. Recommendation

● Make materials available for provincial and zonal alert centres (Responsible: Coordination); ● Rapidly deploy a multidisciplinary team to Mongbwalu ZS as well as to Aru and Kilo ZS (Responsible: Coordination); ● Organise cascade briefings of ZS actors on MVE surveillance (Responsible: Coordination).

PHOTOS

[PHOTO] A tripartite cross-border collaboration meeting between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of South Sudan held in Kampala on this 23 May 2026 as part of strengthening preparedness and response to the 17th epidemic of Ebola Virus Disease (Bundibugyo strain).

For the National Institute of Public Health (INSP (National Institute of Public Health)) of the DRC The Director General of the INSP Dr MWAMBA KAZADI Dieudonné E-mail: dieudonne.mwamba@insp.cd Tel.: +243 816 040 145

The COU-SP Coordinator Prof NGANDU Christian E-mail: Christian.ngandu@insp.cd Tel.: +243998091915

The Incident Manager Prof Pierre AKILIMALI E-mail: pierre.akilimali@insp.cd Tel.: +243815800288

For the World Health Organization (WHO/DRC) The ad interim Representative of WHO in DRC Dr Anne Marie ANCIA E-mail: anciaa @who.int

The EPR Cluster Team Lead of WHO in DRC Dr FOTSING Richard E-mail: fotsingri@who.int

For Africa CDC Justus Nsio Mbeta E-mail: JustusNs@africacdc.org

FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

[PHOTO]

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