The death toll from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s deadliest recorded Ebola outbreak has surpassed 3,000, with more than 6,000 infections reported across the country.
The Congolese National Institute of Public Health said Wednesday that the outbreak had killed 3,007 people and infected 6,186 others, putting the fatality rate at 48.6 percent. A total of 1,409 patients have recovered.
The epidemic, which was declared in mid-May, is concentrated in conflict-affected areas of eastern and northeastern DR Congo, where insecurity and the limited presence of state authorities have complicated efforts to contain the virus.
The current outbreak began in the remote northeastern province of Ituri and is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. The strain currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Ebola is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and can cause severe haemorrhagic fever. The disease has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades.
The previous deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo occurred between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people died among about 3,500 reported cases.
Insecurity Hampers Ebola Response
The virus has now spread to six provinces, including areas where armed groups operate and government access remains limited.
Health authorities have struggled to keep pace with the surge in cases as response efforts face insufficient resources and widespread mistrust in some communities.
The conditions have made it difficult for medical teams to carry out surveillance, treatment and vaccination efforts, increasing the challenge of containing transmission in affected areas.
Several vaccines and treatments are currently being tested against the Bundibugyo strain. Vaccines already approved for Ebola are effective against the Zaire strain, which was responsible for the largest known Ebola outbreak.
The World Health Organization has recommended a Phase III clinical trial of the Ervebo vaccine, which was developed and deployed against the Zaire strain.
WHO experts have not yet established whether Ervebo provides protection against the Bundibugyo strain, although preliminary data indicates that it could offer some degree of protection.
Vaccination Begins For Frontline Workers
A batch of 16,250 Ervebo doses arrived in DR Congo at the end of August for use among frontline healthcare workers.
Vaccination began shortly afterwards in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province in the country’s northeast.
The vaccination campaign is part of wider efforts to strengthen protection for medical personnel working in areas facing the Ebola outbreak while researchers continue to assess the vaccine’s effectiveness against the strain currently circulating.
With the death toll now above 3,000 and thousands of infections recorded, authorities face the challenge of containing the outbreak in communities already weakened by insecurity and limited access to healthcare.
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