Overview
- Since mid‑May the outbreak centred in Ituri and North Kivu has surged to roughly 900–1,077 suspected cases and about 220–246 deaths, with health agencies warning the situation will worsen before it improves.
- The epidemic is caused by the rare Bundibugyo Ebola variant for which there are no licensed vaccines or strain‑specific treatments, so WHO and partners are preparing trials of Remdesivir and the antibody cocktail MBP134 pending national approvals.
- Attacks on hospitals and treatment sites have driven patients from care, disrupted contact tracing and safe burials, and forced aid teams to scale back operations in insecure areas.
- Neighbouring Uganda has reported imported cases, closed its border to the DRC for four weeks and ordered 21‑day quarantine rules for entrants, while some infected foreign health workers have been evacuated for specialist care abroad.
- Chronic underfunding, closed airports and poor roads are delaying lab tests and supply deliveries, and vaccine adaptation efforts are expected to take months, prolonging the period when communities remain at high risk.