The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has escalated, with confirmed deaths surpassing 520 and ongoing transmission in eastern hotspot areas, as per a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. The DRC had reported 1,624 confirmed cases, including 521 deaths, as of July 5, with a case fatality ratio of 32.1 percent. Across the DRC, Uganda, and France, a total of 1,645 confirmed cases and 523 deaths were recorded, with an overall case fatality ratio of 31.8 percent.
The outbreak in the DRC is described as intensifying, fueled by sustained transmission in hotspot health zones of Ituri and North Kivu provinces, increasing community deaths, and the spread of infection into previously unaffected areas. The report highlighted that deaths occurring before patients reach care indicate shortcomings in surveillance and referral systems, with a significant number of confirmed deaths happening in the community or before admission to treatment facilities.
Contact tracing has shown improvement but is still insufficient to swiftly halt transmission. As of July 5, 12,412 contacts were being followed up in the DRC, with 77.5 percent seen within the previous 24 hours. Only 32.4 percent of confirmed cases had been identified through contact tracing, suggesting that many infections were still happening outside known contact lists.
Treatment facilities are under strain, with about 700 beds available across over 22 Ebola treatment centers and care facilities in the DRC. As of July 5, 646 patients were in isolation nationwide, with an isolation occupancy rate of about 94.2 percent. The WHO-sponsored PARTNERS clinical trial, launched in the DRC on July 2, is evaluating therapeutics for Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease, which currently lacks an approved vaccine or specific treatment.
