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6h ago

WHO Says Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DRC Is Outpacing Response

Failing contact tracing, late care‑seeking, unpaid frontline staff, security threats, lack of a vaccine are causing higher deaths and greater risk of spread.

A doctor provides care to a patient with Ebola virus disease at the Rwampara Ebola Treatment Centre in Bunia, Ituri, in eastern DRC on July 13, 2026.
Health workers disinfect a coffin of an Ebola victim at Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
A volunteer uses a megaphone to make announcements while intercepting a passenger boat, after, according to officials, a passenger who had disembarked earlier died after developing symptoms consistent with Ebola, in a place given as Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in this handout image released on August 5, 2026. International Organization For Migration/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. VERIFICATION: - Exact location and date not verified - Reuters reported that Congolese health authorities have intercepted a boat in Maluku carrying 200 people to the capital Kinshasa - No older versions found posted online before August 6 TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Health workers disinfect an ambulance at the Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, on July 22, 2026.

Overview

  • The outbreak has accelerated faster than responders can scale up, with government data showing roughly 3,900 confirmed cases and about 1,800 deaths and WHO warning transmission is outpacing containment.
  • Africa CDC officials say contact tracing is failing, with an estimated 60–70% of new infections occurring outside monitored contacts, which drives community transmission and late detection.
  • Dozens of health workers staged protests Thursday in Bunia over unpaid wages, temporarily abandoning some facilities and disrupting treatment, surveillance and safe‑burial operations at the epidemic’s epicentre.
  • Authorities intercepted a passenger boat bound for Kinshasa after a traveller who disembarked earlier died with suspected Ebola and deployed a mobile laboratory to test all on board to reduce export risk to the capital.
  • The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain for which there is no approved vaccine or strain‑specific treatment, so early supportive care, community trust and an urgent, massive scale‑up of resources and pay systems remain critical to prevent wider spread.