08 July,2026 06:35 PM IST | Congo | mid-day online correspondent
Healthcare workers disinfect a stretcher after transporting an Ebola patient from an ambulance at a treatment centre in DRC, last month. PIC/AFP
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has worsened further, with confirmed deaths crossing 520 and transmission continuing in hotspot areas in the country's east, according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, IANS reported.
As of July 5, the DRC had reported 1,624 confirmed cases, including 521 confirmed deaths, with the crude case fatality ratio rising to 32.1 per cent, the report said.
Across the three affected countries - the DRC, Uganda and France - a total of 1,645 confirmed cases and 523 confirmed deaths had been reported, with an overall confirmed case fatality ratio of 31.8 per cent. More than 12,400 contacts still required follow-up, according to the report.
The report said the outbreak in the DRC "continues to intensify", driven by sustained transmission in hotspot health zones of Ituri and North Kivu provinces in eastern DRC, rising numbers of community deaths, and the spread of infection into previously unaffected health zones.
It warned that deaths occurring before patients reached medical care remained one of the clearest signs that surveillance and referral systems were still lagging behind transmission. Among the 430 confirmed deaths investigated as of July 5, as many as 397, or 92.3 per cent, occurred in the community or before admission to a treatment facility.
Contact tracing has improved but remains below the level needed to interrupt transmission rapidly. As of July 5, a total of 12,412 contacts were under follow-up in the DRC, of whom 9,624, or 77.5 per cent, had been seen within the previous 24 hours. Overall, only 32.4 per cent of confirmed cases had been detected through contact follow-up, indicating that many infections were still occurring outside known contact lists.
Treatment capacity is also under pressure. The DRC has around 700 treatment and isolation beds across more than 22 Ebola treatment centres and care facilities. As of July 5, a total of 646 patients were in isolation nationwide, with official isolation occupancy standing at about 94.2 per cent.
The report said the WHO-sponsored PARTNERS clinical trial was launched in the DRC on July 2, becoming the first clinical trial specifically evaluating therapeutics for Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
The trial is assessing the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and remdesivir, both individually and in combination.
Uganda has reported no new cases over the past two weeks. As of July 5, the country had recorded 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths. Sixteen patients had recovered, while two remained hospitalised. All contacts placed under follow-up in Uganda completed the mandatory 21-day monitoring period without any new linked cases being detected.
In France, the imported laboratory-confirmed case reported to the WHO on June 24 recovered and was discharged from hospital on July 4 after testing negative in two consecutive laboratory tests. Five passengers who travelled on the same flight as the patient were placed under quarantine and remained asymptomatic, Xinhua news agency reported.
The report assessed the public health risk in the DRC as "very high", saying sustained and widespread transmission continued to outpace the current response capacity. It also warned that Uganda remained at high risk of imported cases due to population movement from eastern DRC, while the imported case in France underscored the need for sustained surveillance, traveller awareness and cross-border preparedness.
(With IANS inputs)
