Congo’s Ministry of Health announced Sunday evening via social platform X that the country’s ongoing Ebola outbreak has now reached 782 confirmed cases, with 181 people having lost their lives to the disease.
Health officials believe the actual number of infections is likely far greater. The outbreak wasn’t officially confirmed until May 15 — several weeks after it is thought to have first taken hold — and the rate of contact tracing has dropped to just 56%, a significant decline from the previous week.
This outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment available. This sets it apart from the Zaire strain, which was responsible for the majority of Congo’s 16 previous Ebola outbreaks and for which medical countermeasures exist.
The Ministry reported that 56 patients have recovered so far, and the current death rate stands at 23%.
The hardest-hit area is Congo’s eastern Ituri province, which accounts for over 90% of all cases. Additional cases have been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, and the disease has also crossed the border into Uganda.
Efforts to contain the spread face enormous obstacles. According to the United Nations humanitarian office, nearly one million people in Ituri have been uprooted by ongoing conflict, making it extremely difficult for health workers to track potential exposures. People frequently move through a vast region characterized by dense forests, poor road infrastructure, and remote villages that can take days to reach.
Thousands of small-scale miners who regularly travel between remote sites in the mineral-rich area also present a significant challenge to tracing efforts.
Health workers on the ground are also dealing with hostility from some local residents, widespread skepticism about the outbreak, and ongoing armed conflict in affected areas — all of which continue to hamper the response.
Last month, U.S. officials announced that Americans who are exposed to Ebola while overseas would be sent to a newly established facility in Kenya rather than being returned to the United States. The planned center, to be located at Laikipia Air Base with space for 50 quarantine beds, sparked protests over the proposal. A court later moved to halt the project.
