Overview
- Late July reports from Congolese authorities put confirmed cases at 3,075 and deaths at 1,354, a case-fatality rate of about 44 percent.
- The outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo Ebola variant for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment exists, and two candidate drug trials have begun in Ituri province.
- Ituri is the epidemic's epicenter with roughly 90 percent of new cases, and the outbreak also affects North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo provinces.
- Response operations are strained by armed insecurity, population displacement, community distrust and a recent health-worker strike in Bunia, factors that have reduced access to care and slowed contact tracing.
- WHO declared a PHEIC in May and rates regional risk as high; neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 cases and 2 deaths and began a 42-day countdown after discharging its last patient on July 16.