Overview
- Health authorities say the outbreak has produced over 1,400 confirmed infections and about 440 deaths, with officials warning the true toll is likely higher because the virus circulated undetected for weeks.
- The World Health Organization and Congolese and international partners have launched the first clinical trials testing two antiviral therapies to see if they improve survival for Bundibugyo patients.
- Local violence forced the closure of a treatment centre in the village of Bafwabango after residents set it on fire, causing patients to flee and leaving staff too fearful to resume operations.
- Laboratory testing has expanded to multiple sites able to run thousands of tests per day, but contact tracing, isolation bed capacity and roughly $18 million in urgent funding remain lacking.
- Cases have spread beyond the Ituri epicentre, with the first reported death in Kisangani and about 20 cases detected in neighbouring Uganda, and longstanding conflict and burial practices are worsening community mistrust and transmission.