The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has expanded to 60 health zones across six provinces, the World Health Organization reported on August 28. National authorities had confirmed 5,794 cases and 2,786 deaths as of August 26, a crude fatality ratio of 48.1 percent. WHO said the rapidly growing epidemic remains a public health emergency of international concern, while the global risk remains low.
The latest total represents 1,129 additional confirmed cases and 602 additional deaths since WHO's previous update on August 14. The agency said some of the increase reflects broader surveillance, more laboratory testing and reconciliation of backlogged data, but sustained transmission and geographic expansion are also driving the rise. Biena and Manguredjipa in North Kivu are the most recently affected health zones.
Ituri remains the epicentre with 4,802 confirmed cases, including 52 reported in the latest 24-hour period covered by WHO. North Kivu has recorded 775 cases and the outbreak's highest provincial fatality ratio, at 68 percent, for reasons still under investigation. Across the affected area, health teams followed 22,091 of 26,850 identified contacts during that reporting day, a coverage rate of 82.3 percent.
WHO said conflict, armed violence and large-scale displacement are obstructing surveillance, clinical care and contact tracing. About one million internally displaced people live in Ituri, while overcrowding and limited water, sanitation and health services complicate early detection in mining communities, informal settlements and displacement sites. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated materials, and patients are not infectious before symptoms begin.
Congolese authorities began vaccinating health workers in areas including Kisangani on August 27 with Ervebo, a vaccine proven against a different Ebola species. WHO stressed that its protection against Bundibugyo virus in humans is not yet known, making a clinical trial essential. A separate WHO-sponsored treatment study, the PARTNERS trial, has enrolled more than 250 confirmed patients at three clinical facilities in Ituri.
The emergency committee warned that infections may be substantially undercounted and called for urgent, intensified and sustained action. WHO assesses the risk inside Congo as very high and the risk to neighbouring countries as high, particularly because of cross-border movement, but advises against travel or trade restrictions. Authorities are expected to strengthen rapid testing, supportive care, safe burials, community engagement and cross-border surveillance as they try to interrupt transmission.
Comments