The fatalities involved internally displaced residents of the Kpangba camp, home to 30,000 people, with UNHCR calling for stronger prevention steps in its Thursday report.

Aid groups step up measures to limit the Ebola outbreak tied to the Bundibugyo virus, in Bunia town, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 11, 2026.

(photo credit: REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere)

ByREUTERS

JUNE 12, 2026 14:09

Updated: JUNE 12, 2026 14:15

Two deaths connected to Ebola have been confirmed inside a displacement camp in eastern Congo, the United Nations refugee agency reported.

The victims were internally displaced people residing in the Kpangba camp, which shelters 30,000 refugees, UNHCR noted in its Thursday release, stressing that elevated transmission risks demand improved prevention and response actions.

WHO warns of possible hidden spread in Congo Ebola outbreak

Many gaps remain in tracking the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a World Health Organization specialist stated on Friday, indicating the disease may have spread farther than current figures show.

Congo announced on Thursday that the illness had reached three additional health zones. Officials recorded 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths in an outbreak that has also reached neighboring Uganda.

Blind spots persist in several high-risk zones, said Olivier le Polain, a WHO epidemiologist based in Beni, eastern Congo.

Surveillance must be reinforced in those locations, he added.

A further major issue is the limited number of isolation beds available to medical teams, he noted, with only 250 beds across the three impacted provinces.

The current outbreak stems from the uncommon Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which lacks any approved treatment or vaccine.

The disease went unnoticed for weeks, leaving first responders struggling to catch up.

The WHO has not yet issued forecasts on the epidemic scale, Le Polain said, following a US CDC assessment that it could match the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, which resulted in over 11,000 deaths.