Ebola case confirmed in rebel-held Congo area far from outbreak's epicenter

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo - A case of Ebola has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province - hundreds of kilometres from the outbreak’s epicentre - the rebel alliance that controls the area said on Thursday.

The case in a rural area near the provincial capital of Bukavu marks an expansion of an outbreak that experts believe circulated for around two months in Ituri province, several hundred miles to the north, before being detected last week.

The Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized swathes of eastern DRC last year, said in a statement that the 28-year-old patient had died and been buried safely.

It said the person had come from the northern city of Kisangani, in Tshopo province, but it did not provide details about their recent movements.

The World Health Organization at the weekend declared the outbreak of the virus’ Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine, a public health emergency of international concern.

The outbreak has been linked to 139 deaths and there were 600 suspected cases in eastern DRC’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces as of Wednesday, according to the WHO. Two cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.

South Kivu health spokesperson Claude Bahizire told Reuters earlier on Thursday that two suspected cases, including the patient who died, had been detected in the province. The other patient was in isolation awaiting test results, he said. 

Last week, an Ebola case was confirmed in M23-held Goma, the capital of neighboring North Kivu province. 

M23 said earlier this week that it was committed to working with international partners to contain the outbreak. 

The response has been complicated by the virus’ presence in densely populated urban areas and widespread armed violence in eastern DRC. 

A 2018-2020 outbreak in the region of the Zaire strain of Ebola was the second-deadliest on record, killing nearly 2,300 people.

This time, first responders say they lack basic supplies, which some have attributed to foreign aid cuts by major international donors.

Americans returning from DRC must enter US via DC airport

Americans who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last three weeks must only return to the United States through one airport, Washington D.C.’s Dulles International, for enhanced screening for the Ebola virus, the State Department said Thursday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Customs and Border Protection are applying enhanced public health screening at Dulles in response to the DRC Ebola outbreak, which has killed 139 people and infected as many as 600.

Earlier this week, the U.S. banned non-citizens who had traveled to those countries in recent weeks from entering the country. On Wednesday, an Air France flight from Paris headed to Detroit was diverted to Montreal after a passenger from the DRC boarded “in error,” the customs agency said.

Funneling travelers to just one airport represents a departure from the response to the 2014 to 2016 outbreak in West Africa when the U.S. screened in five international airports, and will create bottlenecks and logistical challenges for travelers, infectious disease experts said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the diversion was meant to “protect the American people.” 

“Objective number one is to make sure that Ebola never reaches the United States. Objective number two is do what we can to help the people of DRC and neighboring countries so it doesn’t spread,” he said.

Prior administrations have focused on containing emerging infectious diseases at their source, before they spread and cross international borders.

In 2014, the United States required travelers returning from three African countries over Ebola concerns to arrive at one of five U.S. airports with enhanced screening, including Dulles, New York JFK, Chicago O’Hare and Atlanta.

“Ideally, you’d like to see more of a regional effort that would cover more airports, cover more places, but that takes resources and infrastructure,” said Dr Jeanne Marrazzo, chief executive of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who noted cuts in public health funding.

The policy released on Thursday applies to travelers with U.S. passports.

Those individuals who were in the affected countries in the three weeks prior will be escorted to a screening area in the airport where CDC staff will take their temperature and ask them to provide details of their travel history, symptoms and contact information.

Those who have no symptoms will be allowed to continue their travel. Sick travelers who are believed to be infected or exposed to Ebola will be transferred to a hospital for further assessment.

Marrazzo raised concerns about the policy prohibiting travel to the U.S. by those with foreign passports.

“Policies that single out individuals not for any scientific or medical reason, but because of their citizenship, won’t prevent outbreaks from spreading,” she said.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern over the weekend, as cases have spread beyond the outbreak’s epicenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There are no treatments or vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola causing the outbreak.

Ugandan Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi told Reuters the U.S. was “overreacting” by banning most travelers from Uganda, along with DRC and South Sudan, earlier this week.

Acting head of US NIH infectious disease institute has left, senators say

The acting director of the U.S. NIH’s infectious disease institute has stepped down, two Democratic senators said on Thursday during a Senate hearing, even as the United States scrambles to respond to Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks.

Jeffery Taubenberger became the acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in April 2025 after President Donald Trump’s administration pushed out the previous head.

Senator Tammy Baldwin opened the hearing on the National Institutes of Health’s 2027 budget by saying that Taubenberger had stepped down and would not testify as planned. Senator Patty Murray also mentioned Taubenberger’s departure.

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, a Trump appointee, in his own testimony and responses to questions from lawmakers, did not dispute the departure, saying that the institute needs new leadership because it will no longer focus on civilian biodefense.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, did not respond to questions on Taubenberger’s exit or the NIAID’s role in Ebola response efforts.

“In the midst of an emerging Ebola outbreak, we have a leadership vacuum at the world’s premier infectious disease institute and across our health agencies. This is of great concern,” Baldwin said. 

Under former director Anthony Fauci, NIAID played a leading role in the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. 

Bhattacharya said NIAID had focused on civilian biodefense - meaning preventing and preparing for threats like biological attacks and pandemics - for years but that the Trump administration wanted to shift its focus to infectious diseases when they emerge, such as Ebola and hantavirus, and also prioritize allergy and immunology.

“That shift means that we need some new leadership,” he said, adding that departing NIAID staff had been assigned to other roles at NIH.

Jeanne Marrazzo, who was fired as the head of NIAID by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in an interview that it is very concerning that “the world’s premier biomedical research institute” does not appear to be working with researchers and industry to develop treatments to address the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The exits add to the leadership vacuum at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, with more than half of the NIH’s 27 institutes led by acting directors. NIAID is the agency’s second-largest institute, with a budget of over $6.5 billion.

There are no confirmed cases in the United States of the Andes hantavirus that killed three people in an outbreak aboard a luxury cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean this month. But 41 people, including 18 quarantined in Nebraska, are being monitored for possible infection.

Additional reporting and writing by Aaron Ross, David Shepardson, Julie Steenhuysen and Ahmed Aboulenein

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 7:14 AM.