Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) have confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Kasai province, which has claimed 15 lives since August 2025, as the country’s health minister announced on Thursday, September 4, 2025.

The health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, told reporters in Kinshasa that the outbreak , which is the 16th in DRC, was first identified on August 20 in a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to the hospital. Since then, 28 suspected cases have been reported.

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo report that the current outbreak is attributed to the Zaire strain of Ebola virus, for which a vaccine exists. Distribution of the vaccine remains challenging due to significant logistical constraints within the country.

The last Ebola outbreak in the DRC was three years ago and led to six deaths. The worst outbreak, from 2018 to 2020, killed nearly 2,300 people. Ebola is a viral disease first found in 1976. It is thought to spread from bats to humans through direct contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe hemorrhaging and organ failure.