High Lethality Rate
The Ebola epidemic has killed over 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years. The deadliest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had claimed nearly 2,300 lives and infected 3,500 people between 2018 and 2020.
For this outbreak, declared officially on May 15, 506 deaths and 1,561 confirmed cases have been reported in the DRC, while the neighboring Uganda has maintained a low number of two deaths for 20 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as of July 4.
A clinical trial testing two treatments against the Bundibugyo strain, the source of the outbreak, began last week. The WHO also granted an emergency use authorization for the first molecular diagnostic test.
High Lethality Rate
The epicenter of the crisis, with its true scale still difficult to measure and potentially lasting several months, is located in Ituri Province, north-eastern Congolese bordering South Sudan and Uganda.
In the mining town of Mongbwalu, considered the outbreak’s starting point, high lethality rates (50.7%) suggest ongoing challenges in early intervention or access to medical care for patients.
The virus is also present in nearby provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, where capital cities and large areas of territory are controlled by the anti-governmental M23 group.
In North Kivu, a mortality rate of 57.4%, significantly higher than the average, has been deemed “concerning” by Congolese health authorities. In South Kivu Province, no new cases have been confirmed since May 26.
The M23’s health authorities recently announced that the outbreak had been eradicated in controlled areas. This information could not be verified by AFP through independent sources.
In response to this announcement, trade exchanges between eastern DRC and Rwanda have resumed after several weeks of border closure, according to AFP journalists.
Trade exchanges are frequent in this region, particularly for commerce. Many Congolese residents from the area also travel to Rwanda for flights at Kigali airport, which was closed by M23 early 2025.
