The Russian Executive reported this Thursday that it will send a team of specialists to Uganda with the objective of supporting the actions deployed to try to contain "as soon as possible" the Ebola outbreak declared in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The epidemic episode already exceeds 500 cases and more than 130 suspected deaths in the African country, in addition to another death in Ugandan territory.
"At the request of Uganda, a team of specialists from the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) --responsible for supervising sanitary and epidemiological conditions in Russia-- will be sent to the country on May 25 to carry out an epidemiological investigation and help partners contain the outbreak," said the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.
The spokeswoman added that "diagnostic tests developed in Russia for this disease will be used," before emphasizing that "Rospotrebnadzor has provided significant support to Uganda in recent years to strengthen its scientific, laboratory, and human resources capacity," including the delivery of two mobile laboratories between 2024 and 2025.
Zakharova also expressed Moscow's intention for the DRC and Uganda, "with the assistance of partner countries and competent international organizations," to manage to "contain the Ebola outbreak as soon as possible," as reported by the Russian news agency TASS. "I would like to reiterate that Russia will support them in every possible way," she concluded.
The Congolese Ministry of Health indicated on Wednesday in its latest report that to date 513 suspected cases have been registered, of which eight have been confirmed by laboratory analysis and 69 remain hospitalized, as well as 131 suspected deaths, including four among health professionals. To these figures, two cases detected in Uganda are added, one of them fatal.
The authorities of the DRC have specified that the areas most affected by the outbreak are Mongbwalu and Rwampara, in the province of Ituri (northeast). However, infections have also been confirmed in Bunia and Nyakunde, also in Ituri, as well as in Butembo and Goma, in the neighboring province of North Kivu.
On the other hand, the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) has communicated this Thursday the first death from a laboratory-confirmed Ebola case in the province of Goma, under its control, and has assured that so far more than 200 people have been tested "in the liberated areas".
"To date, the situation remains relatively stable, with only one case of Ebola diagnosed in Goma," explained M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, who indicated that this patient is "under medical supervision," while their contacts "have been identified and placed under isolation."
However, he detailed that "the results of the tests carried out on May 20 confirm a positive in a sample originating in Bukavu and collected in the Miti-Murhesa area," and pointed out that the affected person "had arrived from Tshopo province" and "died from the disease before the diagnosis was confirmed."
Kanyuka urged the population residing in the areas under M23 control in North Kivu and South Kivu to "remain vigilant, avoid falling into panic, and strictly comply with the preventive measures recommended by health services to limit further spread of the disease." "Surveillance and emergency response teams are fully mobilized to monitor the situation and protect communities," he added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency for this outbreak over the weekend and has warned of the risk posed by large population movements in areas affected by the conflict, as well as the absence of specific vaccines or therapies for the Ebola strain responsible for the outbreak, Bundibugyo.
The average mortality rate associated with the Ebola virus is around 50%, with a sudden onset of symptoms: fever, fatigue, general malaise, muscle aches and headache, and sore throat, which can be followed by vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, skin rashes, and signs of kidney and liver failure.
DRC -- which in December 2025 declared the end of the last Ebola outbreak in the country, in the Kasai region -- is considered the state with the most global experience in managing the virus, having faced more than a dozen outbreaks since it was identified in 1976 in a double focus, one of them in the Congolese town of Yambuku, near the Ebola River, which gave the disease its name.