Paris, June 24, 2026 — France has confirmed its first Ebola infection amid the ongoing outbreak, involving a medical doctor who recently returned from a humanitarian assignment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after testing positive for the virus.
Health officials said the patient has been isolated and contact tracing is underway, while stressing that the likelihood of broader spread across Europe remains low.
The outbreak in Congo has been associated with the rare Bundibugyo strain and has already recorded over 1,000 infections and 267 deaths, according to figures cited by the World Health Organization, marking one of the fastest early case surges in recent outbreaks.
Experts believe the virus may have been circulating undetected for months before the outbreak was officially declared on May 15. Initial cases were detected in urban centers, with subsequent spread reported in at least three crowded displacement camps.
Historically, major Ebola outbreaks have occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016 across Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, as well as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018.
Separately, a U.S. patient treated for Ebola in Germany was discharged earlier this month after repeatedly testing negative for the virus since late May.