On Jun. 9, 2020, genetic sequence analysis by the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) has found that the newly-identified Ebola virus circulating in the Equateur Province in western DRC is different from the one which has infected more than 3400 people in the eastern part of the country.

The DRC’s 11th Ebola outbreak was announced on 1 June 2020 after a cluster of cases was detected in the Mbandaka area of Equateur Province. The INRB genetic sequencing analysis also found that the virus in the latest outbreak is distinct from the previous one that hit the same region in 2018. The investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the new outbreak, but it is likely that it originated from an animal source.

WHO has more than 20 staff on the ground supporting the Ministry of Health and partners responding to the outbreak in Mbandaka and the rural community of Bikoro. Additional staff will arrive this week to support the Ministry of Health in containing the outbreak. WHO has worked with the DRC Ministry of Health, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Red Cross Movement, UNICEF and other partners over the past two years to strengthen capacity to respond to Ebola outbreaks in the DRC.