DRC Ebola outbreak passes 6,000 reported cases and 3,000 deaths, WHO says
The Bundibugyo Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo passed 6,000 reported cases on September 1 and reached 3,000 deaths on September 2, according to the World Health Organization.
WHO describes it as the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record and the fastest-moving it has seen. The outbreak affects 60 health zones across six provinces. Ituri accounts for 85% of reported cases and 88% of deaths.
Community transmission remains difficult to trace
WHO says most deaths are occurring outside treatment centres, many burials are unsafe and many people who die were not listed as contacts of known cases. Those findings imply transmission chains remain undetected, complicating isolation, monitoring and community protection.
Conflict, displacement, hunger and damaged trust in institutions make the response harder. Public-health teams need reliable local participation as well as beds, laboratories and vaccines.
Response and clinical trials
WHO reports shipping more than 330 tonnes of emergency supplies and deploying more than 300 experts. Laboratory capacity has expanded to 24 facilities capable of about 3,000 tests a day, while more than 1,300 beds are available across 49 treatment facilities. The response aims for 3,000 beds within three months.
A two-treatment trial called PARTNERS has enrolled more than 300 patients. Another study is testing obeldesivir after high-risk exposure. Two Bundibugyo vaccines are in safety trials in the United Kingdom and Canada. WHO cautions that the approved vaccine against Zaire ebolavirus is not yet known to protect against the Bundibugyo species.
The government-led six-month plan seeks $1.3 billion. Case and death totals may change as records are reconciled, but the September 2 WHO briefing is the authoritative basis for the figures in this update.
Sources: WHO September 2 briefing; WHO disease-outbreak notice.
WHO situation map for the outbreak. Image: WHO.
