Overview
- The DRC reported about 1,003 confirmed Ebola cases and 254 deaths late Sunday, with more than 365 people in hospital or isolation and roughly 100 recoveries.
- The outbreak is centred in Ituri province but has reached North Kivu, South Kivu and Uganda, and tests indicate it is caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus for which no licensed vaccine or strain‑specific antiviral exists.
- Contact tracing has fallen to roughly 55–58 percent coverage, leaving tens of thousands of contacts unmonitored and slowing the detection and isolation of new cases.
- Frontline health services are under severe strain after dozens of healthcare workers fell ill and many died, prompting the government to pilot free care in Ituri, raise risk allowances and open new isolation capacity including a small prison unit.
- Violence, mass displacement and crowded camps with poor water and sanitation are blocking access for responders, UNICEF warns nearly three million children are at heightened risk, and WHO and partners say funding and operational scale‑up remain far short of what is needed.