The Ebola outbreak continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with more than 6,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths now reported across six provinces.
As the unprecedented spread of the virus continues, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations are calling for urgent international mobilisation.
According to the latest figures from the Congolese authorities, 6,186 cases have been confirmed and 3,007 people have died. WHO considers the outbreak the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic ever recorded.
The response continues to face numerous challenges, including insecurity, population displacement, weaknesses in the health system and mistrust among some communities. WHO is particularly concerned about the high number of deaths occurring outside treatment centres.
The United Nations is therefore calling on member states to increase funding, treatment capacity and humanitarian access in order to contain the spread of the virus.
The outbreak is not a new one. It was officially declared on 15 May 2026, following the emergence of cases in Ituri. Since then, it has gradually spread to other provinces and surpassed the 2018-2020 outbreak, which had previously been the deadliest ever recorded in the DRC.
DM/ac/lb/as/APA