GENEVA, June 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The fatal Ebola outbreak in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading rapidly, the World Health 
Organization warned Friday, despite accelerating efforts to tackle the virus.

The WHO said it was still racing to catch up with the worsening situation 
gripping the northeastern DRC.

"The outbreak remains serious" and is "evolving so fast", said Marie-Roseline 
Belizaire, the WHO Africa emergencies chief.

"However, I have seen a response that is growing stronger every day," she 
told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Bunia, the capital of the DRC's Ituri 
province, the outbreak's epicentre.

The outbreak was declared on May 15, though transmission had been going 
undetected for some time beforehand.

It is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is 
no vaccine or specific treatment.

There have been 896 confirmed cases so far in the DRC, including 232 
confirmed deaths, with 21 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the 
latest WHO update.

More than 90 percent of known cases in the DRC have been in conflict-wracked 
Ituri.

The outbreak has also spread to North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

Belizaire said the epidemic was evolving so quickly that the response was 
racing to keep pace with the virus, which spreads by close contact and 
infected bodily fluids.

The number of treatment beds available for Ebola patients had gone from zero 
to more than 500, she said.

And surveillance teams were now investigating nearly 400 alerts and were 
capable of administering more than 2,000 tests a day, she added.

Belizaire also highlighted that efforts to trace contacts of known Ebola 
cases had ramped up, with 75 percent of all contacts now being reached.

The WHO has said 95 percent of contacts must be traced to get on top of the 
outbreak.

Belizaire said some people falling ill were staying at home, then going to 
traditional healers, before finally going to healthcare centres, delaying 
access to treatment.

In the DRC, 78 people have recovered after contracting Ebola, which she 
called a "powerful reminder that a timely diagnosis, access to quality 
healthcare can save lives".

- Health workers killed -

Belizaire said health workers were hit hard in the early stages of the 
epidemic.

So far, 75 healthcare workers have been infected with Ebola, of whom 17 have 
died, she said.

"In DRC, as we are seeing a large community outbreak, we cannot say for sure 
they have 
been infected in a health facility," she added.

"It is a really high price that the healthcare system is paying."

Belizaire said a Chinese medical team had arrived in the capital Kinshasa and 
would be heading to Bunia.

In neighbouring Uganda, the only other country hit, there have been 19 
confirmed cases including two deaths, and 10 recovered patients.

Uganda has reported no new cases for 12 days.

Meanwhile the UN migration agency said it had done more than a million health 
screenings at borders and on travel corridors as part of surveillance 
measures aimed at detecting potential cases.