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DRC Ebola Outbreak Death Toll Rises to 1,405
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Health & Science

DRC Ebola Outbreak Death Toll Rises to 1,405

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Ongoing story
  • The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported 1,405 deaths and 3,200 confirmed cases of Ebola in an outbreak that began May 15.
  • The current fatality rate stands at 43.9%, with 773 patients hospitalized and 571 recovered.
  • The outbreak has affected five provinces, and while Uganda has cleared its last patient, challenges like community resistance to safe burials persist.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has raised the death toll from the ongoing Ebola outbreak to 1,405, with 3,200 confirmed cases reported since the epidemic was declared on May 15. The Ministry of Communication and Media's latest bulletin, with data up to July 25, indicates a fatality rate of 43.9%.

Currently, 773 patients remain in isolation or hospitalization, while 571 individuals have recovered from the disease. The contact tracing rate stands at 77.8%. The outbreak has spread across five Congolese provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele in the east, and Tshopo in the north-central region. The National Institute of Public Health (INSP) stressed the importance of "safe and dignified burials" to halt transmission, warning of persistent challenges such as local community resistance, with some still conducting burials before response teams arrive.

The capacities for surveillance and care remain fully mobilized in the affected areas.

— Ministry of Congolese Communication and MediaThe ministry provided an update on the ongoing efforts to manage the Ebola outbreak.

Initially declared in Ituri province, bordering South Sudan and Uganda, the epidemic also spread to Uganda. However, Uganda discharged its last Ebola patient on July 16, after recording 20 confirmed cases, 15 of which were considered imported from the DRC, resulting in two deaths. Uganda has now begun its 42-day countdown without new infections to declare the end of the outbreak within its borders.

This epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which has a fatality rate between 30% and 50% and for which no authorized vaccine or specific treatment exists, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO considers the risk of expansion in sub-Saharan Africa to be high, while the global risk is deemed low. This outbreak ranks as the third-worst in recorded history, behind the West Africa epidemic of 2014-2016 (approx. 11,000 deaths) and a previous outbreak in eastern DRC from 2018-2020 (2,299 deaths).

safe and dignified burials

— National Institute of Public Health (INSP)The INSP highlighted the critical importance of proper burial practices to prevent disease transmission.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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