Health:
Ebola Spreading ‘Fast’ In DR Congo, Warns WHO
The outbreak was declared on May 15, though transmission had been going undetected for some time.
Healthcare workers put on personal protective equipment (PPE) in the dressing area under the supervision of specialists before going to examine patients in the isolation ward during their shift at the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) following its rehabilitation by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Munigi on June 2, 2026. Photo by JOSPIN MWISHA / AFP
The fatal Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading rapidly, the World Health Organization warned Friday, despite accelerating efforts to tackle the virus
The WHO said it was still racing to catch up with the worsening situation gripping northeastern DRC.
“The outbreak remains serious” and is “evolving so fast”, said Marie-Roseline Belizaire, the WHO Africa emergencies chief.
“However, I have seen a response that is growing stronger every day,” she told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Bunia, the capital of the DRC’s Ituri province.
The outbreak was declared on May 15, though transmission had been going undetected for some time.
It is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine.
Response team members are helped to wear protective suits before burying a person suspected of having died from Ebola in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 25, 2026. GLODY MURHABAZI / AFP
READ ALSO: DR Congo Ebola Peak ‘In Front Of Us’, Outbreak Could Last A Year — Red Cross
There have been 896 confirmed cases so far in the DRC, including 232 confirmed deaths, with 21 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the latest WHO update.
More than 90 percent of known cases in the DRC have been in Ituri, a province racked by conflict.
The outbreak has also spread to North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Belizaire said the epidemic was evolving so quickly that the response was racing to keep pace with the virus, which spreads by close contact and infected bodily fluids.
The number of treatment beds available for Ebola patients had gone from zero to more than 500, she said.
And surveillance teams were now investigating nearly 400 alerts, and were capable of administering more than 2,000 tests a day, she added.
Belizaire also highlighted that efforts to trace contacts of known Ebola cases had ramped up, with 75 percent of all contacts now being reached.
A health worker monitors visitors arriving at the Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratory, National Biomedical Research Institute (INRB) in Goma, on May 19, 2026. Photo by JOSPIN MWISHA / AFP
The WHO has said 95 percent of contacts must be traced to get on top of the outbreak.
In neighbouring Uganda, the only other country hit, there have been 19 confirmed cases including two deaths, and 10 recovered patients.
Uganda has reported no new cases for 12 days.
