Death rate at camp in DR Congo spikes amid fears of Ebola spiralling

At least 30 people have died since the start of May in one camp for displaced citizens in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with some confirmed to have died from Ebola, in a sign the disease could be spreading quickly there.

It was not possible to confirm the causes of all the deaths because patients or their relatives in Kigonze camp in Bunia - the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in the DRC - had until Thursday refused testing, a camp spokesperson and aid organisation Caritas said.

But all had symptoms associated with the disease, including headaches, fever and vomiting, a camp ​spokesperson, a bereaved father, three aid sources and a civil society leader told Reuters.

"People didn't just die like this before," camp spokesperson Desire Grodya Bapi said.

DRC health minister Roger Kamba said on Friday there were now 933 confirmed cases and 245 deaths from the current outbreak.

A World Health Organization official said 75 medics in the DRC had been infected with Ebola and 17 ​of them had died since the current outbreak.

The deaths in Kigonze, which has more than 15,000 residents, raise fears Ebola may be spreading undetected among more than five million displaced citizens in eastern DRC, with resistance to testing adding to the ⁠challenge posed by severely limited sanitation measures.

Camp president Dz'djo Ndrutsi Etienne said 10 people were buried this week alone. Mr Grodya said the camp typically recorded between one and three deaths each month.

Read more from Sky News:
Ebola outbreak: 17 medics dead
Tourist dies after huge fire destroys luxury beach resort

Justin Zanamuzi, director of Catholic aid organisation Caritas, which assists Kigonze's residents, said his team on Wednesday saw several bodies covered in sheets, including a pregnant woman and children.

Footage from Thursday, shared by the civil ​society leader and verified by Reuters, showed health teams in protective suits disinfecting bodies and preparing small coffins next to a crucifix in front of mourners.

"Our team tried to persuade people to accept doctors to inspect the bodies. They completely refused," Mr Zanamuzi said.

Health workers had taken samples from five ​victims, some of which had returned positive for the disease, Mr Grodya, the camp spokesperson, said.

Three aid sources also confirmed on Saturday that the test samples on some of this week's victims had come back positive for Ebola, without ​specifying the number.

Camp resident Kato Lonu, 47, is mourning two children, including a six-month-old. "These are conditions that no human being should have to live in. If you look around, people are dying one after another," he said.

The current outbreak was first declared by Congolese officials on 15 May, but the officials said the deaths had started earlier in the month.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed it to be the largest outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain on record.

(c) Sky News 2026: Death rate at camp in DR Congo spikes amid fears of Ebola spiralling