🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo

Navigating Urban Centers

In Kinshasa, youth street gangs known as kulunas operate with machetes and firearms. You should avoid hailing informal taxis or motorbikes from the street, as express kidnappings and robberies are common. Use prearranged private vehicles provided by reputable hotels or organizations.

Nighttime Transit

Street lighting is virtually nonexistent outside a few central boulevards. You should avoid all travel after dark. Checkpoints operated by security forces or irregular armed actors are frequent, and unvetted encounters at night carry high risks of extortion and robbery.

Solo and Solo Female Travelers

Women traveling unaccompanied face pervasive verbal harassment and elevated personal security risks. You should dress conservatively, move with trusted local companions, and avoid isolated streets, unlit waterfronts, and public mini-buses.

The eastern border corridor lies within the Albertine Rift, hosting active volcanoes including Mount Nyiragongo and Mount Nyamuragira. Eruptions and seismic swarms can displace communities and disrupt air traffic in Goma.

The equatorial climate brings intense tropical downpours during the rainy seasons (October to May in the south, April to November in the north). Heavy rains cause sudden urban flash flooding in Kinshasa and trigger massive mudslides that cut off unpaved regional highways.

Malaria is hyperendemic nationwide, with Plasmodium falciparum representing the primary pathogen. You should take prescribed chemoprophylaxis and sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets.

Waterborne illnesses including cholera and typhoid fever present severe risks due to fragile municipal water systems. You should drink only sealed bottled or boiled water, avoid uncooked street food, and wash hands frequently. Clade I Mpox is also widespread, so avoid contact with sick people and with bushmeat.

Ebola outbreak

DR Congo is in the middle of a large Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus, its 17th Ebola outbreak. WHO declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May 2026. By 6 October 2026 there were 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 deaths in seven provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo, Bas-Uele, South Kivu and South Ubangi (see Ebola-Affected Provinces). Kenya reported an imported case on 6 October, a traveller who had come from DR Congo through Uganda and died, and a health worker was evacuated to the Netherlands on 1 October. There is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo virus, and WHO considers the neighbouring countries at high risk of further spread. Two US citizens working there tested positive and were evacuated to Germany. Do not go near affected areas, avoid contact with anyone who is ill and with bushmeat, and seek medical care at once if you develop a fever, bleeding or vomiting after any exposure. ECDC says screening returning travellers would not stop imported cases, so tell your doctor where you have been.

Entry Requirements

Proof of yellow fever vaccination on an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis is mandatory for all travelers aged 9 months and older entering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Officials verify certificates at border inspection posts.

Recommended Immunizations

You should ensure routine immunizations (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis, polio) are up to date. In addition, vaccines against hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio boosters are strongly recommended. Depending on trip duration and activities, consider vaccination against cholera and rabies.

Governments agree that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is dangerous, and that you should expect little help from them outside Kinshasa. They now differ on how much of the country to avoid.

Whole-country positions

• United States: do not travel, the fourth of four tiers (updated 14 July 2026), because of health, crime, unrest, terrorism and kidnapping.
• Australia: do not travel (updated 6 July 2026), because of the volatile security situation and the threat of conflict, violent protests, terrorism and kidnapping. It also notes the Ebola emergency.
• Canada: avoid all travel (updated 28 September 2026), because of the fragile security situation and the Ebola outbreak. Canada also has border measures until 27 November 2026 for anyone who has been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days.

Province-by-province positions

• United Kingdom (updated 8 October 2026): advises against all travel to Haut-Uélé, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, Tanganyika and Haut-Lomami, to the Kwamouth territory of Mai-Ndombe and to within 50km of the Central African Republic border. It advises against all but essential travel to two districts of Kinshasa (N'djili and Kimbanseke), the N1 road in Kinshasa Province, Upemba National Park and Kisangani airport. It does not warn against the rest of the country.
• Germany (unchanged since 18 September 2026): a partial travel warning for Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Lomami, Maniema, Mongala, Tanganyika, Tshopo, South Ubangi, Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé, the north of Haut-Katanga around Upemba National Park, and the 50km strip along the Central African Republic border. German citizens in North and South Kivu are asked to leave. It advises against non-essential travel to the rest of the country, including Kinshasa.

The gap between the whole-country positions of the US, Australia and Canada and the UK's narrower list is the biggest disagreement, so treat Kinshasa and the west as uncertain rather than safe. Several of these positions have changed since 2024, so check the pages again close to your departure date. All five governments name the Ebola outbreak, and the US and Canada restrict entry for people who have recently been in the country.