Ebola outbreak kills 304 in eastern DRC, sparks cross‑border response

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s east has seen an Ebola outbreak that has claimed at least 304 lives among 1,155 confirmed cases, a case‑fatality rate of about 26%. The virus, the Bundibugyo strain with no approved vaccine, originated in Ituri province and has spread to North and South Kivu. Uganda, sharing a border with Ituri, reported 20 confirmed infections and two deaths, while France confirmed its first case in a doctor who had worked in the DRC.

The World Health Organization declared the situation a public‑health emergency of international concern and announced a 90‑day joint response plan with Congolese and Ugandan authorities to boost laboratory capacity, treatment beds and contact tracing, which now reaches 79.2% of identified contacts. WHO will also trial two antiviral drugs, MBPC‑134 and remdesivir, supplied by the United States and Gilead, in collaboration with the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research, the NGO ALIMA and Oxford University.

Health officials stress the need for coordinated international and regional action as the outbreak threatens further spread across sub‑Saharan Africa.