Amid mounting concern in central Africa, the latest World Health Organization update indicates the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is proving far less deadly so far than many previous epidemics in the country.
Since the outbreak was declared in the DRC in mid-May, the World Health Organization has recorded more than 1,000 suspected and confirmed Ebola cases in the central African nation.
In an update posted on X today — dated 24 May — the WHO said 10 deaths have been confirmed as caused by Ebola, with another 223 deaths suspected to be due to the virus.
The same update reported that one person has also been confirmed to have died of Ebola in neighbouring Uganda, where a further six infections have been confirmed.
Even with those figures, the UN health agency cautioned that the real extent of transmission is likely greater, warning the virus may have been circulating unnoticed for some time.
Without providing further detail, the WHO update said the case fatality rate among suspected cases currently stands at 24.6%, while the fatality rate among confirmed cases is 9.8%.
Those rates are notably below outcomes seen in the 16 prior Ebola outbreaks recorded in the DRC since the virus was first identified there in 1976.
Historically, most DRC outbreaks have involved the Zaire strain of Ebola, a variant that typically kills 60-90% of patients and is also the only strain for which vaccines are available.
Health officials have said the current outbreak is being driven by the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccines or treatments exist.
In the DRC’s two previous outbreaks linked to that strain — in 2007 and 2012 — case fatality rates were estimated at roughly 30% to 50%.
But Abdi Rahman Mahamud, the WHO emergency alert and response director, stressed last week that fatality rates can shift as an outbreak unfolds, often falling when infections are identified sooner and treatment begins earlier.
“Early referral and early care saves lives,” he told reporters.
Ciarán Donnelly, Senior Vice President for crisis response at the International Rescue Committee, said the organisation was deeply worried by the situation, describing it as “hard to overstate the sense of alarm we’re feeling” around the outbreak.
Appearing on RTÉ’s Drivetime, he pointed to three specific concerns.
First, he said the virus appears to have spread extensively while remaining undetected for “at least two months,” with some reports suggesting it may have gone unnoticed for “up to four months” — a delay that leaves responders struggling to catch up.
Second, Donnelly highlighted that eastern DRC is heavily affected by conflict, with territory divided among different armed groups and the government, complicating public-health operations and making it more difficult to contain transmission.
Third, he said the region’s health system — and wider humanitarian capacity — has been severely weakened by the impact of global funding cuts for humanitarian assistance over the past year.
“So right at the very moment in which the health system and humanitarian actors need to be scaling up we are actually at our lowest levels of funding for several years.”
Uganda shuts DR Congo border: health ministry
Uganda has closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in an effort to limit the spread of Ebola from its neighbour, the health ministry said.
Uganda has recorded seven cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola since the outbreak was identified in the DRC on 15 May.
“Uganda is temporarily closing the border with the DRC with immediate effect,” health ministry permanent secretary Diana Atwine told reporters.
“The only exceptions are for authorised Ebola response teams, humanitarian operations, food and cargo transportation, and security under strict health screening and monitoring protocols,” she said.
Ms Atwine also announced that anyone arriving from the DRC will be subject to a 21-day quarantine overseen by the Ministry of Health and district surveillance teams, alongside regular health checks for pupils at schools located near the border.
