On Saturday, April 23, 2022, health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced a new outbreak of Ebola fever. This, after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in northwest Equateur province, is reporting to our Rfi colleagues who provided the information.

In fact, it’s a 31-year-old man who started experiencing symptoms on April 5. The patient did not seek treatment at a local health facility until after a week of home care. He was later admitted to an Ebola treatment center on April 21, where he died the same day.

Dr Machidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, called on local authorities to speed up containment of the epidemic. “Time is not on our side. The disease has taken an early start for two weeks and now we are playing catch-up,” he said.

But the “good news,” according to Dr. Machidiso Moeti, is that “the health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world in rapidly controlling the Ebola outbreak.”