Helpers disinfect each other.Image: keystone
Congolese health authorities report a continued sharp increase in confirmed Ebola cases in the northeast of the country.
June 15, 2026, 10:38June 15, 2026, 10:38
Within 24 hours, the number of cases rose by 72 to a total of 782, reported the information ministry of the second largest African country. The number of confirmed deaths rose by 32 to 181 over the same period. Since the latest official figures refer to June 13, the actual number is now likely to be even higher. According to the information, the mortality rate is 23.1 percent.
According to the ministry, 359 patients are currently being treated in hospitals and isolation wards. Tracking contacts continues to be problematic. At 56.5 percent, the follow-up rate is well below the target. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in order to stop the spread of the disease, it is necessary to identify and monitor 90 percent of all people who have been in contact with an infected person.
The aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that a month after an outbreak in Congo’s Ituri province was announced, gaps in surveillance and contact tracing were undermining efforts to contain the highly dangerous disease.
“Nobody knows the true extent or exact locations of the spread,” said Kate White, MSF emergency medical coordinator in Congo. «However, we know that most treatment centers in Ituri province are overloaded; Many of our patients only reach us at an advanced stage of the disease, and most were neither identified as contacts nor monitored prior to their treatment.”
In addition, many affected communities do not have sufficient access to testing, and the transmission of laboratory results still takes too long. “Without faster and more widespread testing, it will be difficult for us to detect cases early enough to contain the outbreak,” emphasized White.
Ebola fever is a life-threatening disease. The virus is transmitted through physical contact and contact with body fluids. The current outbreak is particularly difficult to contain, also because there is currently neither a vaccine nor a special therapy for the Ebola pathogen of the Bundibugyo type. (hkl/sda/dpa)