Overview
- Official figures from the DRC health institute list 999 confirmed deaths and 2,473 confirmed infections, while other reporting updated the toll to about 1,033 deaths and 2,533 cases, reflecting rapidly changing counts.
- The outbreak is concentrated in Ituri province, which has reported the bulk of cases and deaths and is the main focus of containment efforts.
- The virus in this epidemic is the Bundibugyo variant, for which no licensed vaccine or tailored antiviral exists, so researchers began clinical testing of two antiviral approaches in early July.
- Contact tracing is reaching about 82 percent of contacts, below the WHO target of 90 percent, and ongoing armed conflict and insecurity in eastern DRC are limiting surveillance, safe care and burial operations.
- Cross-border spread has been recorded, including cases and two deaths in Uganda, raising regional risk and prompting international coordination after WHO declared a global health emergency.