The ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has tragically resulted in 438 fatalities among 1,406 recorded cases, marking a significant lethality rate of 31.2%. This grim update was provided in the latest assessment released on Thursday by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP).
Officially declared on May 15, this particular outbreak is attributed to the Bundibugyo virus strain. Currently, there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment available for this variant. However, health authorities have confirmed that clinical trials are in the preparatory stages.
Ituri province remains the primary hotspot for the disease, accounting for 91.2% of confirmed infections and 83.6% of all deaths. The virus has also been detected in the neighboring provinces of Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu, though the latter has not reported any new confirmed cases since May 26.
Alarmingly, a confirmed case emerged in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province, located nearly 600 kilometers from the epidemic’s core. Tests on the remains of a 24-year-old woman, who was six months pregnant, tested positive for the virus. According to the INSP, her body was illicitly transported by motorcycle from the Nia Nia health zone in Ituri, despite the well-documented high risk of transmission associated with the bodies of Ebola victims, particularly during funeral rites.
Furthermore, one death and a new infection have been reported in the adjacent Haut-Uélé province. Authorities are actively searching for the infected individual, who is known to have traveled from the Nia Nia health zone.
Despite these recent developments, health officials continue to categorize only three provinces—Ituri, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu—as officially impacted by the epidemic. They consider the cases in Tshopo and Haut-Uélé to be “imported” infections originating from Ituri. Nevertheless, several individuals who had contact with the affected patients have been identified, with some transferred to Ituri for ongoing medical observation.
Ebola virus disease, transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, has tragically claimed over 15,000 lives across Africa in the past five decades. The DRC’s most devastating outbreak previously recorded nearly 2,300 deaths between 2018 and 2020.
