Overview
- DRC health authorities confirmed late Sunday that the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has reached 1,274 confirmed cases and 360 deaths, with the conflict-hit Ituri province accounting for about 1,165 cases.
- Authorities recorded the first case in Haut-Uele after an infected traveler moved from Bunia, marking the fourth DRC province affected and raising the risk of cross-border importation into neighbouring states.
- Treatment centres are operating above capacity, dozens of health workers have been infected and contact tracing coverage remains far below what is needed to interrupt transmission.
- WHO has issued international alerts and says clinical trials of experimental vaccines and therapies will begin in the coming days because no licensed vaccine or Bundibugyo-specific treatment exists.
- Insecurity, mass displacement and resistance to safe burials are blocking access for responders and could prolong the outbreak, increasing the chance of spread to countries such as South Sudan according to WHO modelling.