Follow-Up: DR Congo Ebola Cases Pass 10,060 With 4,887 Deaths, the Country's Deadliest Outbreak on Record
Confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak have passed 10,000. According to a situation report published on October 26 by the country's National Institute of Public Health, as of October 25 the outbreak had recorded 10,060 confirmed cases and 4,887 deaths, a case-fatality ratio of about 48.6%, with 2,684 recoveries. It is the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC's history and the second-largest globally after the 2014–2016 West African epidemic. GSM previously reported a death toll of 4,727; the new report updates the figures as the outbreak continues to spread.
The outbreak is driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus and was officially declared on May 15, beginning in northeastern Ituri province before spreading to eight provinces and 66 health zones. Ituri remains the epicentre, with 7,211 confirmed cases and 3,370 deaths; North Kivu has recorded 2,309 cases and 1,293 deaths. There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain; existing Ebola vaccines and therapies mainly target the Zaire strain.
The situation report recorded 96 newly notified cases and 46 deaths on October 25 alone, 40 of them community deaths of people who never reached a treatment centre; responders say at least half of all those who have died were never admitted for treatment. Contact tracing also remains below target: across the five provinces submitting data, teams saw 16,205 of 19,853 listed contacts in the preceding 24 hours, a follow-up rate of 81.6%, below the 95% response target. Africa CDC says about 80% of new cases are now coming from outside known contact lists, meaning multiple transmission chains remain undetected.
Cross-border risk persists: Kenya has reported cases and deaths, Nigeria an imported case, and Uganda has tightened controls on travellers with a history of travel to the DRC. African health ministers were scheduled to meet virtually on October 28 to coordinate the response, and the World Health Organization has begun clinical trials of a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain. The response is also hampered by insecurity — the report noted that attacks and threats against response teams, including the killing of a nurse responding to an alert, had prevented some health zones from submitting data.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 联合国秘书长António Guterres视察刚果（金）Mangina埃博拉治疗中心、隔窗看望留观的疑似患者（资料图，摄于该国上一轮埃博拉疫情应对期间，非本轮疫情现场）。照片：MONUSCO Photos，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons。
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