Ebola cases surge in North Kivu as WHO warns outbreak is far from over

The World Health Organization says Ebola transmission is rising sharply in North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, even as some other affected areas show signs of improvement. In an online news conference, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the fight against the outbreak is "far from over". He said the situation in the east remains complex, with multiple outbreaks in multiple places.

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Tedros said weekly cases in North Kivu had doubled over the past two weeks, rising from 100 to more than 200. He said the area is so large that it is difficult to describe the situation as a single epidemic. At the same time, he said transmission is declining in the worst-affected parts of Ituri province, which has been the epicentre of the outbreak, while South Kivu has not reported any new cases since May.

The WHO said the outbreak is being complicated by the emergence of a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo virus. The agency said this strain has no known cure, and that treatment trials and work on post-exposure prophylaxis are accelerating. More than 3,000 health workers and front-line workers have already been vaccinated with Merck's Ervebo, according to WHO science director Meg Doherty.

However, the agency said the vaccine is licensed against Zaire ebolavirus and its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain is not known. The latest figures underline how uneven the outbreak has been across eastern DRC. WHO said more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces since the country declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May.

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That scale makes the current surge in North Kivu significant not only for local health services, but also for the wider regional response effort. It also shows that progress in one province does not mean the outbreak has been brought under control elsewhere. Ebola outbreaks in the DRC have repeatedly tested the country's health system, particularly in the east where insecurity, distance and limited infrastructure can slow surveillance and treatment.

The current outbreak is notable because it is spread across several provinces and involves a rare strain that complicates vaccination strategy. WHO's comments suggest that response teams are still trying to contain transmission while adapting to the changing epidemiological picture. What remains unclear is how quickly the rise in North Kivu can be reversed and whether the Bundibugyo strain will continue to spread in areas already affected.

WHO said treatment trials and prophylaxis development are moving faster, but it did not give a timeline for when those tools might change the course of the outbreak. The key issue now is whether the decline in Ituri and the absence of new cases in South Kivu can offset the renewed growth in North Kivu.

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