The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has now reached a sixth province in the north of the country, escalating concerns over potential cross-border spread to neighboring South Sudan. This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak declared in the DRC since the virus was first identified, with health officials warning of an unprecedented global spread.

Already classified as the most devastating in the country’s history, the current outbreak has claimed over 2,128 lives from 4,566 confirmed cases—just three months after the declaration was made. This toll surpasses the first three months of the West African Ebola epidemic in 2014, which had previously held the grim record.

The DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak occurred between 2018 and 2020, resulting in nearly 2,300 deaths out of 3,500 recorded cases.

Authorities confirmed the virus has now crossed into the Bas-Uélé province in the north, bordering the Central African Republic—a region previously untouched by the outbreak. The victim had traveled from Haut-Uélé, a neighboring province already grappling with Ebola cases, according to Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya.

The Africa CDC has raised alarms over the outbreak’s accelerated pace, describing it as unprecedented in modern history during a recent virtual briefing with journalists.

Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian organization, has also highlighted the looming threat to South Sudan, where confirmed cases are now located just 35 kilometers from its border with the DRC. The organization identified the movement corridors in the affected regions as high-risk transmission zones.

Efforts to contain the virus face severe challenges, including overwhelmed healthcare systems, limited access to clean water and sanitation, public distrust, and ongoing insecurity. In the North-Kivu and South-Kivu provinces, response teams are hindered by active conflict between Congolese forces and the M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, which has seized control of vast territories.

Despite these obstacles, authorities declared an end to the outbreak in South-Kivu earlier this week after 42 days without new cases. Additionally, no secondary infections were detected among passengers on a boat traveling the Congo River toward Kinshasa, where a suspected Ebola-related death was reported in early August.

Ebola, transmitted through bodily fluids, causes severe hemorrhagic fever and has claimed over 15,000 lives across Africa in the past five decades.