The Ebola epidemic that hit the northeast and east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused almost 1,300 deaths. The estimates come from the country’s health authorities which have updated their data by harmonizing the national and provincial findings.
According to data published by the National Institute of Public Health of the DRC and updated to July 22, there have been 1,269 confirmed deaths and 2,905 confirmed cases. Compared to the previous day, the increase is 200 deaths and around 350 infections, compared to the 1,033 deaths and 2,536 cases recorded previously.
Institute officials point out that the latest estimate “reflects the integration of harmonized data” in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, the initial epicenter of the epidemic.
Emergency of international importance
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern, known by the acronym Pheic. The strain involved is Bundibugyo, for which there is neither an approved vaccine nor treatment. Several international organizations have already raised the alarm about the risk that the spread of the virus could put response capacities to the test.
A country with long experience
The Democratic Republic of Congo is considered the state with the most experience in the world in managing Ebola. The country has faced more than a dozen epidemics since the virus was first identified in 1976, in a double epidemic that had one of its epicenters in the Congolese town of Yambuku, on the banks of the Ebola River, which gives the disease its name.
Only in December 2025 did the RdC declare the previous epidemic, which occurred in the Kasai region, over.