DR Congo Ebola cases pass 10,000 as outbreak spreads abroad

Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo have passed 10,000, according to data from the country's Ministry of Public Health released on Tuesday. The figures stand at 10,060 cases and 4,887 deaths since the outbreak was declared on May 15.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain for which no vaccine or treatment has been approved. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has described it as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history. Al Jazeera reported that it is also the deadliest in DR Congo's history, with nearly half of confirmed patients having died.

Counting cases outside DR Congo as well, it is the second-largest and second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record. Only the 2014-2016 West African epidemic was larger, with 28,600 infections and more than 11,000 deaths within two years.

About 80 percent of new cases are arising outside the chains of transmission that health authorities are monitoring. Africa CDC has said at least 95 percent of cases must come from known contacts for an outbreak to be considered under control. Cases have been recorded in 66 health zones across eight provinces, compared with three at the start.

Responders say some treatment centres are overwhelmed, while remote areas lack supplies and health workers. Many teams lack vehicles and struggle to persuade families to hand over the sick and the dead for safe burial. At least half of those who died were never admitted for treatment. Maternal deaths doubled in some provinces soon after the declaration, and routine childhood vaccinations have been disrupted. Responders in Ituri province recently stopped work over bonuses owed since late August.

The World Health Organization said assailants killed a nurse and seriously injured a colleague on Saturday in Tshopo province while they responded to a suspected case. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that everyone protecting communities must be able to work in dignity and safety.

Abroad, Uganda recorded 20 cases, mostly imported, and two deaths over the summer, and officials say there are no active infections. Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced on Sunday that returning citizens must quarantine for 21 days at their own expense. Kenya has confirmed nine cases, two fatal, after a patient travelled from DR Congo through Uganda to Nairobi. Nigeria confirmed an infection in the wife of a Swiss diplomat who fell ill after visiting Uganda; she was evacuated to Switzerland and Nigeria has stepped up airport screening.

Clinical trials of two antiviral treatment approaches have run since July. The WHO announced on Friday that the first vaccine clinical trial had begun, and two trials are testing whether the Ervebo vaccine, approved only against Ebola virus, protects against Bundibugyo.