Overview
- Authorities reported on Wednesday that the outbreak declared in mid‑May has caused 6,186 confirmed cases and 3,007 confirmed deaths, giving a case‑fatality rate of about 48.6 percent.
- Laboratory tests identify the epidemic as the Bundibugyo Ebola variant for which no licensed vaccine or treatment exists, prompting investigational use of the Ervebo vaccine and the start of a phase‑III study.
- Africa CDC pledged 70,000 Ervebo doses, more than 16,000 have arrived, and 20,000 are earmarked for the vaccine trial while 50,000 are set aside to protect health workers.
- Clinical testing of antiviral regimens has run since July and drug trials including obeldesivir for high‑risk contacts are under way, with WHO planning vaccine efficacy studies in October–November.
- Response operations face major limits because many cases are not on contact lists, unsafe burial practices continue, and armed conflict blocks access, raising the chance of spread to neighbouring low‑capacity states.