Overview
- Official totals show about 5,000 confirmed infections and more than 2,300 deaths while Africa CDC estimates the true caseload may be roughly 10,000 to 15,000 because many infections are undetected.
- WHO Director‑General Tedros said the epidemic is not under control and called it the second‑largest Ebola outbreak, noting it is spreading faster than past outbreaks.
- The International Coordinating Group approved release of 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine with 50,000 earmarked for health workers and 20,000 reserved for a phase‑3 study, although Ervebo’s effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain in humans is unproven.
- Response teams face repeated attacks, deep community mistrust and gaps in surveillance that leave most deaths occurring outside treatment centers, while cases in Tshopo and river traffic raise concern about spread toward Kisangani and Kinshasa.
- The response is underfunded against an estimated $1.4 billion need, with less than half disbursed, shortages of protective gear, unpaid local responders and the coming rainy season expected to make detection and care harder.