Overview
- The WHO this week upgraded the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national risk to very high while keeping the global risk low and maintaining the outbreak’s international emergency status.
- Authorities report about 82 laboratory‑confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths with roughly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths under investigation, indicating the true scale may be larger.
- The outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo Ebola variant for which no approved vaccine or antibody treatment exists, and common rapid tests such as GeneXpert do not detect this strain.
- Operational response is strained: health teams are following only about one in five identified contacts each day, PCR diagnostic kits are scarce, and treatment sites have been attacked.
- The virus has spread across borders to Uganda, which now reports five imported cases, and governments and event organizers are imposing measures including a U.S. 21‑day isolation requirement for the DRC World Cup team while WHO evaluates the experimental antiviral Obeldesivir for contacts.