Overview
- The DRC health ministry, which updated figures Tuesday, reported 513 suspected infections and 131 suspected deaths in an outbreak centered in Ituri province.
- Following Sunday’s global alert by the WHO, officials confirmed infections in major cities Goma and Kinshasa and exported cases in Kampala, Uganda, with a reported case in South Sudan.
- Laboratories identified the rare Bundibugyo species, which has no approved vaccine or specific therapy, and early tests missed cases because many sites only screened for the Zaire strain.
- WHO flew emergency supplies to Bunia and deployed experts, MSF is preparing a large-scale response, and the U.S. CDC is supporting field surveillance and has evaluated relocating a small number of affected Americans.
- Conflict, displacement, and weak surveillance hinder contact tracing and safe burials, and the WHO warns the true scale may be larger even as it says the event does not meet pandemic criteria.