WHO Warns Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo “Far From Controlled” as Death Toll Surpasses 2,300
The World Health Organization on Monday reaffirmed that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” as the disease has killed more than 2,300 people in just three months and shows no sign of slowing down.
According to the WHO Regional Office for Africa’s latest weekly report released on August 18, the DRC has recorded 5,021 confirmed Ebola cases across 55 health zones in six provinces, with 2,378 deaths — yielding a case fatality rate of 47.4 percent. An additional 1,061 patients have recovered from the disease.
“To be frank, this epidemic is far from being controlled,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said following an emergency committee meeting on August 18. “The outbreak had a big head start. It is still way ahead of us, and we are still playing catch-up.”
A Historic Crisis
The current outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, was declared by Congolese health authorities on May 15 after cases were detected in Ituri Province. It has already become the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC’s history, surpassing the 2018–2020 outbreak caused by the Zaire strain that killed 2,299 people over a period of nearly two years. The current crisis exceeded that toll in roughly 13 weeks.
Globally, only the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak — which infected more than 28,000 people and killed over 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — remains larger in scale. However, the DRC’s current outbreak is taking lives at a significantly faster rate.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the outbreak has become the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic ever recorded, with approximately one death occurring every 30 minutes. “Unless its trajectory is urgently reversed, it risks becoming the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded globally,” the agency said in a statement on August 17.
No Approved Vaccine or Treatment
Compounding the crisis is the fact that the Bundibugyo strain — first identified in Uganda in 2007 and previously detected in the DRC in 2012 — has no licensed vaccine or approved specific treatment. Vaccines and monoclonal antibodies developed for the more common Zaire strain cannot be automatically applied.
WHO Director-General Tedros confirmed that two candidate vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo virus have entered clinical trials in the United Kingdom and Canada. The Africa CDC has also expressed support for expanding the use of the Ervebo vaccine, approved for the Zaire strain, among frontline health workers under strict research protocols, while simultaneously conducting Phase 3 clinical trials to evaluate its cross-protective efficacy.
However, the WHO cautioned that existing evidence is insufficient to demonstrate that Ervebo can provide meaningful cross-protection against the Bundibugyo virus, and it should not be deployed as a routine countermeasure at this stage.
Six Provinces Affected
The outbreak has spread across six provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele, and Tshopo. Ituri remains the epicenter, accounting for 4,194 confirmed cases and 1,838 deaths — roughly 84.8 percent of all recorded infections. North Kivu represents the second-largest cluster with 596 cases and a staggering 70 percent case fatality rate.
WHO is particularly concerned about Tshopo Province and its capital Kisangani, a major transportation hub with connections to the rest of the country, creating a risk that the virus could spread along transport networks to more distant regions, including the capital Kinshasa. As of August 18, no confirmed cases had been detected in Kinshasa, but enhanced screening measures have been implemented at waterway and transport checkpoints.
Response Under Strain
Nearly two-thirds of confirmed Ebola deaths are being recorded outside hospitals and isolation facilities, in villages and communities, the Africa CDC reported. Studies indicate that approximately 80 percent of new infections are emerging outside established contact tracing chains, suggesting the virus is spreading well beyond the reach of existing surveillance systems.
The response has been hindered by delayed detection, ongoing armed conflict in the eastern provinces, population displacement, community mistrust of medical authorities, and severely stretched health infrastructure. A study published in the journal Science indicated that transmission may have begun as early as January — months before the government declared the outbreak — with early infections misdiagnosed as peritonitis and laboratory samples initially mishandled.
The WHO has requested $115 million to fund the emergency response but has secured only approximately 60 percent of that amount. The UN humanitarian affairs office has allocated $54.5 million to accelerate operations in the DRC and help neighboring countries prepare for potential cross-border spread.
Regional Alert
Neighboring countries remain on high alert. In early August, representatives from the Central African Republic, DRC, Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda met in Bangui to reaffirm commitments to strengthened cross-border surveillance and preparedness. The UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic has been providing technical and logistical assistance to local authorities.
Uganda, which experienced its own Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak alongside the DRC, declared the end of its epidemic on July 28 — a signal, officials say, that the virus can be contained when proven public health measures are implemented rapidly and comprehensively.
“The risk does not stop at the borders of the DRC,” Tedros warned, calling for sustained international solidarity and funding to bring the outbreak under control.