Kinshasa: The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 689, including 139 deaths, according to the latest situation report released by the country's health authorities. 

A total of 17 new confirmed cases, including five deaths, were reported on Thursday, all in the eastern province of Ituri, the report said. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, has affected 29 health zones across three eastern provinces, namely Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

A total of 168 suspected cases, including 64 deaths, had been reported as of Thursday.

The report also highlighted several operational challenges, including reluctance to undergo post-mortem swabbing, insufficient capacity in Ebola treatment centers, shortages of infection prevention and control materials in North Kivu, weak alert reporting across the three provinces, and a funding gap of $21.5 million.

Two Ebola-related deaths have been reported in a camp for internally displaced people in Ituri, according to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The current outbreak, officially declared on May 15 by the DRC's health ministry, is the country's 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was identified in 1976, Xinhua news agency reported.

An Ebola outbreak was confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Uganda in May 2026. The Bundibugyo species of Ebola involved is one for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment, though work is ongoing to test promising candidates. The outbreak is occurring in a challenging context: humanitarian crisis and a remote and densely populated area, combined with insecurity and high population and trade movements.

Ebola disease first occurred in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks: one outbreak was of Sudan virus disease in Nzara in what is now South Sudan, and the other outbreak was of Ebola virus disease in Yambuku, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.

(IANS)