DR Congo records 50 to 80 new Ebola cases daily – WHO

Executive Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu. Photo: Arise TV

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is recording between 50 and 80 new confirmed Ebola cases daily.

The Executive Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday.

Ihekweazu stated that the outbreak had reached about 10,000 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths.

He said, “Unfortunately, we’re now at 10,000 cases and close to 5,000 deaths.

“We’re reporting 50 to 80 new confirmed cases every single day. So the situation is still very dire. This is a large part of the country, the east of the country.

“Eight provinces are affected, equivalent to eight states in Nigeria. This is over 1,000 square kilometres. So we’re in the sixth month of this outbreak.”

The current outbreak was declared on May 15, 2026, after the virus was believed to have been spreading for several weeks.

It has affected eastern and northeastern parts of the country, including Ituri and North Kivu provinces, where insecurity and weak health infrastructure have complicated containment efforts.

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The outbreak is the country’s 17th and is approaching the toll recorded during its deadliest previous outbreak between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people died out of about 3,500 recorded cases.

Congolese health authorities put the fatality rate of the current outbreak at 45.9 per cent in figures published in August. At the time, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba warned that the outbreak had yet to reach its peak.

The World Health Organisation’s Regional Director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, said many infected people were dying at home without being reached by health workers.

“We are only seeing 30 percent (of infected people), while 70 percent of people are dying at home. This is why this Ebola is different,” he said.

The outbreak has raised concerns over vaccine availability, as there was no specific approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak, according to the August report.

WHO vaccine experts had recommended a full-scale human trial to assess whether Ervebo, an approved vaccine effective against the more common Zaire strain, could offer protection against the Bundibugyo strain.

The Gavi global vaccine alliance also said doses from its stockpile would be made available for the trials, with some already in DR Congo.