“Over 6,000 Infected, Half Dead”… DR Congo on Alert Amid ‘Worst-Ever Ebola Outbreak’
Ebola: 6,041 Total Confirmed Cases, 2,911 Deaths
WHO Maintains Public Health Emergency of International Concern
The spread of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) continues to intensify, with the cumulative number of confirmed cases surpassing 6,000.
On August 31 (local time), the Ministry of Communication of DR Congo announced via X (formerly Twitter) that the total number of confirmed cases had risen to 6,041, with 2,911 deaths reported.
The health authorities in DR Congo are currently carrying out disease control and relief operations in six provinces where Ebola is spreading. Efforts are being particularly concentrated on the Ituri, North Kivu, and Haut-Uele regions.
This latest Ebola outbreak, officially declared on May 15, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain—a rare variant for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments, unlike previous epidemics. Although no vaccine has been approved for the Bundibugyo lineage so far, the development of experimental vaccines is underway.
This outbreak is seeing the fastest increase in deaths in history, exceeding the scale of the previous worst Ebola epidemic that lasted from 2018 to 2020. It has been recorded as the largest infectious disease outbreak in the history of DR Congo, located in Central Africa.
On May 29th (local time), medical staff were transporting meals to patients at the Ebola treatment center in Lewampara, Congo. Photo by AP Yonhap News
Although the frequency of Ebola outbreaks is low, the virus is extremely contagious. It is transmitted through the bodily fluids of infected individuals—such as vomit, blood, or semen—and can result in death if the disease progresses severely. In particular, an increasing number of cases with unidentified transmission routes has made it challenging for health authorities to keep pace with the speed of spread. Additional disruptions to response efforts have occurred due to attacks targeting healthcare facilities and disease control teams, as well as strikes by medical staff.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to categorize the current Ebola outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
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