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4w ago

WHO Sees Progress in Ituri as Congo Ebola Outbreak Continues to Grow

Declines in parts of Ituri point to limited control while vaccine use and trials proceed under severe security and funding limits.

Health workers who are members of the safe and dignified burial team prepare to bury Abineno Justine, a 38 year old woman who died of the Ebola virus, in Bunia, Congo, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)
A hygiene worker helps a doctor put on personal protective equipment (PPE) before entering the Rwampara Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) to care for patients with Ebola virus disease in Bunia, Ituri, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 13, 2026. Health workers at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo are threatening to strike, telling AFP on July 13 they had not been paid since the virus was detected in mid-May. The highly infectious disease has killed more than 700 people among the nearly 2,000 confirmed infected in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the outbreak was declared on May 15, according to the latest official toll published on July 14. (Photo by BENEDICTION MURHABAZI / AFP via Getty Images)
The latest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is the deadliest to hit the country

Overview

  • WHO said Wednesday that transmission is falling in the hardest‑hit parts of Ituri even as the epidemic has reached more than 7,200 confirmed cases and over 3,500 deaths across seven provinces.
  • Health officials report a sharp recent rise in North Kivu, where weekly case counts nearly doubled from about 100 to more than 200, signaling fresh and expanding transmission there.
  • Merck’s Ervebo vaccine has been sent to the DRC and thousands of frontline workers have already received doses under research and compassionate‑use protocols while a Phase 3 randomized trial and an MSF observational study are due to start imminently.
  • Response teams say insecurity, attacks on health workers, high population mobility and limited testing are blocking contact tracing, safe burials and clinic access and are likely leaving many cases undetected.
  • WHO, Africa CDC and UN partners have launched large funding appeals and warn that without rapid increases in staff, tests, beds and money vaccine trials and containment efforts may have limited impact for months.