Overview
- Mid-September figures show roughly 7,200 reported Ebola cases and nearly 3,500 deaths, with about 903 symptomatic patients currently in hospitals and isolation units.
- Ituri Province accounts for about 78% of confirmed cases while parts of North Kivu, notably Butembo and Katwa, are seeing weekly cases double and driving new transmission.
- WHO reports some encouraging signs and improved contact tracing, but Africa CDC and UN coordinators say the outbreak’s peak is unconfirmed and transmission is uneven across affected areas.
- Response work is constrained by armed insecurity, poor roads, repeated attacks on teams, unpaid staff and a major funding shortfall that UN coordinators estimate at roughly $1–1.3 billion.
- The outbreak, caused by Bundibugyo ebolavirus, began in mid‑May, has spread across seven provinces, and lacks a proven licensed vaccine so authorities are using investigational vaccines and planning trials.