DRC raises Ebola death toll to 1,437 and confirmed cases to 3,262

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have updated the Ebola outbreak figures, reporting 1,437 deaths and 3,262 confirmed cases since the epidemic was declared in the country's east on May 15. The current fatality rate stands at 44.1%, according to the latest bulletin from the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), with data compiled up to July 26.

Currently, 723 patients are under "isolation or hospitalization," and 583 individuals have recovered. The contact tracing rate is at 78.2%. Five Congolese provinces have been impacted: Ituri, which is the epicenter, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Haut-Uele in the east, and Tshopo in the north-central region. The INSP noted that Ituri accounts for 88.9% of cumulative cases and 88.5% of new daily cases.

The INSP emphasized the need for increased surveillance, stating, "Contact follow-up actions remain insufficient, and we need a reinforcement of surveillance activity." The epidemic, initially declared in Ituri province bordering South Sudan and Uganda, has spread to Uganda. However, Uganda discharged its last Ebola patient on July 16, having recorded a total of 20 confirmed infections, including 15 cases considered imported from the DRC, which resulted in two deaths.

The Ugandan government has initiated the 42-day countdown without new infections required to declare the end of the outbreak in its territory. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies the current outbreak strain as the Bundibugyo variant, which has a fatality rate between 30% and 50% and lacks an authorized vaccine or specific treatment. The WHO considers the risk of the outbreak's expansion in sub-Saharan Africa "high" and globally "low."

This epidemic ranks as the third-worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history and the seventeenth to affect the DRC. It follows the West Africa epidemic from 2014-2016, which caused approximately 11,000 deaths and 28,000 infections, and the outbreak in eastern Congo between 2018 and 2020, which resulted in 2,299 deaths and 3,481 cases. The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids and causes severe hemorrhagic fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and internal bleeding.