No Ebola infections were detected among more than 200 passengers quarantined on a river boat near Kinshasa after tests by the National Institute of Biomedical Research came back negative for the Bundibugyo strain. Health teams screened and isolated symptomatic people and decontaminated the vessel. The DRC outbreak, active since May, has produced about 4,200 confirmed cases and over 1,900 deaths and continues to spread rapidly, with many new cases occurring outside known contact chains.
No Ebola Cases Found Among 200+ Quarantined River‑Boat Passengers Near Kinshasa, DRC Officials Say
Wiza Bondele, a health worker on the prevention and control team, poses for a photograph in Ituri province, eastern Congo, Wednesday, Aug 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)(AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced Saturday that no Ebola infections were detected among more than 200 passengers who were quarantined on a river boat near Kinshasa.
The National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), which handled laboratory testing, reported that all suspected cases came back negative for the rare Bundibugyo strain. The ministry said teams from the Ministry of Health screened everyone on board, collected specimens from symptomatic people, and decontaminated the vessel.
Investigation and Response
Specialist response teams were dispatched to the port of Maluku, roughly 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Kinshasa, after authorities learned a traveler who had previously been on the boat later died with symptoms consistent with Ebola. Africa CDC Director‑General Jean Kaseya said the ill passenger had disembarked nearly three weeks earlier in Pimu, in Mongala province — more than 1,000 kilometers upriver from the capital.
A health worker, wearing protective gear, stands outside the Ebola Treatment Center at the Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)(AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
The INRB urged residents of Kinshasa to remain calm while surveillance and testing continue. Health officials said those with suspicious symptoms were isolated and tested, and the boat was thoroughly decontaminated as a precaution.
Broader Outbreak Context
The DRC has been battling a large Ebola outbreak that began in May. To date there have been roughly 4,200 confirmed cases and more than 1,900 deaths. Authorities warn the outbreak is spreading rapidly: an estimated 60–70% of new infections in this wave are detected outside known contact chains, complicating contact tracing and containment efforts.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said the epidemic is "spreading at an alarming and unprecedented rate" and that the expanding response is still not reaching communities quickly enough to break transmission chains.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids — including vomit, blood and semen — and via contaminated surfaces, bedding or clothing. As of the latest reports, Kinshasa has not recorded any confirmed Ebola cases.
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