Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Outbreak Situation Report #15
- Emergency Manager's Weekly Report
- 19 hours ago
- 4 min read
Global Highlights:
· As of August 13th, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 4,749 cases (4,748 confirmed & 1 probable) and the following:
o 2,216 deaths (2,216 confirmed & 1 probable).
o 995 people have recovered.
· On August 6th, WHO and the Africa CDC has called for immediate action to respond to the outbreak. The priorities are:
o Identify cases earlier and raise daily contact follow-up to at least 95%.
o Bring testing, referral, isolation and treatment services closer to affected communities.
o Urgently expand treatment, laboratory, ambulance and safe and dignified burial capacity.
o Protect, equip, support and pay frontline health workers on time.
o Strengthen infection prevention and control in health facilities.
o Maintain essential health services for affected communities.
o Improve secure access to areas affected by insecurity and poor infrastructure.
o Work through trusted community leaders at every stage of the response.
o Sustain cross-border surveillance and regional preparedness.
o Ensure that committed financing reaches frontline operations without delay.
· On August 7th, the Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine was included in the WHO phase 3 trial:
o Doses of this vaccine will be made available from the Gavi global Ebola vaccine stockpile.
o Gavi is supporting this work through a $40 million investment from its First Response Fund, with the aim to accelerate and scale access to promising Bundibugyo-specific candidates for investigational use in outbreak response.
· The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced on August 11th the launch of WASTEWISE:
o This is a combined wastewater and environmental surveillance system.
o It is a three-year initiative supported by the European Union and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine.
· As of August 14th, this outbreak is the fastest growing in history.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Highlights:
· The Ituri province remains the hardest hit area with one million people displaced (80% of whom are women and children):
o More than 300 children have died since the outbreak began.
o Fear of infection has contributed to a decline of more than 40% in the use of health services in the worst-affected areas.
o Maternal deaths have nearly doubled, with an average of six women dying each week from childbirth-related complications.
· A total of 1,500 DRC Red Cross Society volunteers remains mobilized:
o 1,400 Safe and dignified burials have been conducted.
o 240,000 people have been reached with life-saving information to counter rumors and misinformation.
· On August 7th there was an attack on the Banana École village in Mambasa Territory which killed at least 13 civilians and has displaced 28,000 people:
o Several people were reportedly abducted and houses set ablaze.
o The newly displaced people join more than 36,000 people who fled attacks in the area in April.
· The DRC Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Security (DRC MOH) on August 11th reported that the Ituri military governor has taken measures to limit large gatherings, avoid contact with sick people and to comply with the measures provided for burials.
· WHO on August 11th in Lita announced the expansion of a WHO treatment center. The number of beds will be expanded from 40 to 80 beds.
· On August 12th, the DRC MOH reported the following:
o The Buta health zone in Bas-Uélé has joined the affected areas, bringing the total number of impacted health zones to 54.
o Surveillance remains active with 1,531 alerts recorded, of which 1,388 have been verified.
· The Africa CDC on August 14th reported the expansion of their diagnostic capacity from one to 40 RadiOne point-of-care devices and from two to five standard RT-PCR platforms since the Ebola outbreak was declared.
· Humanitarian Assistance Update:
o OCHA on August 14th has deployed an additional 20 staff to the DRC.
o The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners have deployed 13,000 community workers, reached more than 2.4 million people with prevention and early detection messages, and conducted over 500,000 household visits.
o The World Food Programme (WFP) reported the following activities:
ü As of August 11th, more than 160,000 meals have been delivered in 17 centers.
ü 15 new trucks have joined the WFP fleet that will be used to help deliver food and nutrition support to communities.
o As of August 10th, the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge has conducted 10 flights that delivered around 658 tons of relief supplies to Uganda, DRC and South Sudan.
o The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) on August 14th allocated an additional $30.5 million from UN Central Emergency Response Fund.
Sources:
· Three months into the Ebola outbreak: Overcoming local resistance, Red Cross volunteers stand by their communities by building trust as the virus continues to spread
· Gavi welcomes recommendation to include existing Ebola vaccine Ervebo in clinical trials for Bundibugyo virus disease
· Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda | Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak and EU response - DG ECHO Daily Map | 10/08/2026
· West and Central Africa: Latest Events at a glance (4-10 August 2026)
· WHO Ebola outbreak - DRC 2026 Website
· DRC Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Security Twitter Page
· DRC Red Cross Society Twitter Page
· UN Senior Ebola Coordinator Twitter Page
· WFP DRC Twitter Page
· WHO African Region Twitter Page
· Africa CDC Twitter Page
Resources
WHO issues comprehensive guidelines on filovirus disease, including Ebola and Marburg disease
CDC Health Advisory: Ebola Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
ECDC, Ebola disease
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