Cases top 6,800 as transmission drops in Ituri epicentre but spikes in neighbouring North Kivu and Haut-Uélé
KINSHASA — A fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly beyond its initial epicentre into neighbouring northeastern provinces, public health authorities warned on Friday.
Briefing reporters during its weekly epidemiological conference, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said transmission patterns are shifting across the eastern region. While newly confirmed infections and fatalities have fallen in Ituri province—the cradle of the current crisis—surveillance teams are tracking steep increases across North Kivu and Haut-Uélé.
Data released by the Congolese health ministry on Thursday placed the cumulative caseload at 6,843, with 3,310 deaths recorded since the epidemic was formally declared in May. The figures demonstrate a case-fatality rate approaching 50 percent, making it the fastest-spreading outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic fever on record in the country.
Ituri remains the most severely affected territory, accounting for more than 5,400 documented cases. However, health workers face widening transmission chains in North Kivu, which has recorded over 1,000 cases to date, and expanding focal clusters in Haut-Uélé.
Containing the contagion across eastern Congo presents severe logistical challenges. The affected provinces have endured decades of armed conflict, leaving large swathes of the population displaced and basic healthcare infrastructure critically weakened. Cross-border movement and high population mobility between rural towns and major trade hubs have complicated contact tracing and ring-vaccination operations.
Field responders are focusing their efforts on breaking transmission chains in newly affected communities before the virus establishes deep reservoirs in densely populated regional centres.
Public health teams continue to deploy mobile laboratories, community outreach units, and treatment facilities, though monitoring contacts across unstable conflict corridors remains a pressing operational barrier for emergency personnel.
