Ebola outbreak reaches eighth DRC province as Kenya reports eight cases

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak reached Nord-Ubangi, the eighth affected province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by October 18, 2026. DRC authorities reported two cases there, including one death. World Health Organization figures dated October 18 recorded 9,552 confirmed cases and 4,602 confirmed deaths in the DRC, alongside eight cases and one death in Kenya.

Expansion in the DRC

The Nord-Ubangi cases were reported in the Wapinda health zone. The province borders the Central African Republic, where no confirmed case had been reported. The reported detections establish that the affected area has grown; they do not establish whether transmission will persist in Nord-Ubangi or cross the border.

An eighth affected province increases the area in which health authorities must identify cases and follow contacts. The October 18 DRC totals also supersede lower figures in earlier reports, so those earlier counts should not be read as the outbreak’s current scale.

The DRC totals do not show how quickly transmission is changing in each province. WHO reported uneven provincial trends and warned that delayed identification of cases and deaths in communities complicate interpretation of the outbreak’s trajectory.

Kenya’s linked cases

Kenya’s first reported patient arrived from the DRC via Uganda on October 3 and died in Nairobi on October 5. Kenyan Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth said the eighth patient, reported on October 18, was a 49-year-old attendant who had cared for the first patient. The attendant tested positive while in quarantine.

Among Kenya’s confirmed patients were three close relatives and three health workers who had cared for the first patient. Those infections make infection prevention during care a material part of containment. The reported Kenyan cases demonstrate importation from the DRC and subsequent infections among people linked to the first patient.

The eighth patient’s positive test in quarantine shows that contact monitoring identified that infection. It does not establish that every exposure has been found. The Associated Press reported that 128 contacts remained in quarantine when the eighth case was announced; additional cases during monitoring remained possible.

The reported cases do not establish community transmission in Kenya. Kenya’s Health Ministry had stated that there was no evidence of community transmission. Whether all contacts and exposure chains have been identified remained uncertain as of October 18.

Response and remaining uncertainty

The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus. WHO says there is no licensed vaccine or approved virus-specific treatment. Response measures include isolating patients, providing supportive care, tracing contacts and preventing infections in care settings.

The reported developments place demands on those measures in two settings: surveillance and contact follow-up across a wider area of the DRC, and monitoring of people linked to Kenya’s imported case. Confirmed cases in the Central African Republic, sustained transmission in Nord-Ubangi and community transmission in Kenya had not been reported in the supplied October 18 account.