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Urge Inside Health | UrgeDevWire

A weekly development news platform published by UrgeDevWire, produced by Urge Communications. Covering wider East African region.

Inside Health News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire

DRC Bans Mass Gatherings in Kinshasa as Ebola Reaches Six Provinces

KINSHASA, 29–30 June 2026

The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo extended precautionary measures in the final days of June, banning mass public gatherings in the capital Kinshasa as the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak expanded to six provinces. No confirmed cases have been reported in Kinshasa, but health authorities moved to reduce transmission risk in the country's densely populated capital following the spread to Haut-Uele province and the death of a pregnant woman whose body tested positive after she died in Bunia on 27 June and was subsequently transported to Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province.

Mass gathering bans had previously been imposed in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, and Bas-Uele. The Kisangani development in Tshopo, which emerged on 30 June, introduced a sixth province into the outbreak's geographic footprint. Experts say the virus has spread predominantly through funeral practices, where the highly infectious bodies of deceased Ebola patients are handled by family members and mourners. Health workers in the field have described repeated incidents where relatives confronted burial teams demanding the return of their family members' bodies. Ebola treatment centres in the main affected areas are operating beyond capacity. With 1,274 to 1,333 confirmed cases recorded and 360 to 399 deaths reported across data points from 29 June, the outbreak is now the second-largest in DRC's history. Experts cited by the BBC and AFP on 30 June stated the outbreak has not yet reached its peak.

Inside Health News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire