The epidemic

Ebola, negative test of patient returned to Sardinia from DR Congo

The tests were conducted by the Spallanzani in Rome. The patient returned to Italia on Saturday 30 May

by Rome Editorial Staff

31 May 2026

Il personale medico dell'Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), una ONG internazionale, indossa i dispositivi di protezione individuale (DPI) mentre allestisce un centro di cura per la gestione dell'Ebola, mentre le agenzie intensificano gli sforzi per contenere una nuova epidemia di Ebola causata dal ceppo virale Bundibugyo, a Rwampara, nei pressi di Bunia, nella provincia di Ituri, Repubblica democratica del Congo, il 29 maggio 2026. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere REUTERS

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The Ministry of Health informs that the Ebola test carried out yesterday, Sunday 31 May, on the patient who returned to Sardinia from DR Congo was negative. The tests were conducted by the Spallanzani in Rome.

The patient returned to Italy on Saturday, 30 May. Yesterday, after experiencing some symptoms, he called the 118 emergency services and was taken in bio-containment to the Santissima Trinità hospital in Cagliari for the necessary diagnostic tests, as required by current protocols. In a note, the ministry confirms that the risk in Italia remains very low.

The alarm in Cagliari

Protocols for a suspected case of Ebola had been triggered in Cagliari to take a person from a house and transport him to hospital. The person who had returned from abroad was suffering symptoms attributable to the virus. The protocol was activated and the police, fire brigade and local police arrived on the scene to support the 118. Doctors and nurses equipped with aseptic suits and masks had entered the house and picked up the patient, who was transported to the Holy Trinity Hospital in the infectious centre, where all necessary investigations were carried out.

The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Meanwhile, the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of Africa (CDC) Jean Kaseya said that the Ebola outbreak that is ravaging the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo and has spread to Uganda has so far yesterday already resulted in 43 deaths and 263 confirmed cases. In an editorial published by the Financial Times, Kaseya also informed that there are currently more than 1,100 suspected cases and that the crisis has become a crucial test for the affected countries, the agency he heads and the African Union, because 'the risk of regional spread is already a reality'.

The contagion in Uganda too

Kaseya did not specify the distribution of those infected, but the vast majority were identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In its last assessment, the UN estimated that the Congolese province of Ituri, the epicentre of the disease, accounted for 88% of confirmed cases. A total of nine confirmed cases, including one death, were reported in Uganda. Kaseya insisted that context is a critical factor in the spread. The fighting between the Army and militias in the north and north-east of the country has resulted in 'constant population movement across permeable borders' between DRC and neighbouring Uganda. Health systems are saturated and, for this strain of the virus, there is currently no authorised vaccine or specific treatment,' he warned.

"Between four and six months to defeat or contain the outbreak"

The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is in Bunia, capital of the province of Ituri, this weekend to assess the situation in person and meet with the country's health authorities, including Health Minister Roger Kamba. In his first press conference yesterday, Kamba gave himself a period of 'between four and six months' to 'defeat or contain the outbreak'.

The WHO chief, for his part, recalled Kinshasa's response in past outbreaks and argued that although there is no known vaccine for the current outbreak strain, the country's experience is currently the best weapon. "We know that this is a rather complex crisis, but the DRC already has extensive experience in fighting the virus. We are confident that we can contain this outbreak once again,' Tedros said.

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