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On 4 September 2025, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in Bulape Health Zone, Kasai Province, following laboratory confirmation by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and GeneXpert assays at the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) in the capital Kinshasa. This is the 16th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The presumptive index case, a 34-year-old pregnant woman with 34 weeks of gestation from Tshitekeshi, Bulape Health Area, Bulape Health Zone, reportedly developed symptoms on 10 August 2025 and was admitted in labour to the Obstetrics and Gyneacology ward at a local hospital on 20 August 2025, with high-grade fever and acute onset of bloody watery diarrhoea. She died on 26 August 2025 while on admission and was subsequently buried in the community without adherence to safe and dignified burial practices. No sample was collected prior to burial. The source of infection of the index case is still under investigation.

On 22 August 2025, a nurse who provided care to the presumptive index case developed similar signs and symptoms and later died on 1 September 2025. Two other health workers, a laboratory technician and another nurse from the same hospital, also experienced onset of signs and symptoms on 24 and 28 August 2025 respectively and subsequently died.

The cases and deaths among health workers who provided care to the index case, subsequent cases among close relatives and family members, coupled with their clinical presentations raised suspicions of a viral haemorrhagic fever outbreak, leading to alerting of the national health authorities on 1 September 2025. Subsequently, of the six samples collected from suspected cases, five tested positive for Ebola virus disease on 3 September 2025, thus confirming the outbreak in Bulape Health Zone.