Overview
- Health authorities report just over 1,000 confirmed infections in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with about 267 deaths, a surge that has pressured treatment centres and raised alarm among international agencies.
- The World Health Organization has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern to mobilize resources and coordinate a wider response to the rare Bundibugyo Ebola variant.
- Contact tracing is far below the benchmark needed to stop transmission, with roughly 55–60 percent of contacts followed and many isolation beds already near capacity.
- The outbreak has crossed borders: Uganda has reported cases linked to the Congo outbreak and France confirmed an imported case on June 24, highlighting risks from infected health workers and cross-border movement.
- Containment is hampered by armed conflict, overcrowded displaced-persons camps with poor water and sanitation, rising infections among healthcare workers, planned drug trials in the DRC, and political disputes over a paused US-backed quarantine facility in Kenya.