The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the deadliest in the country’s history, with the World Health Organization warning that it is in “a phase of intense transmission”. The DR Congo National Institute of Public Health confirmed total fatalities at 2,325, still far short of the 2014‑16 west Africa epidemic that killed 11,310.

Reported cases and deaths hit a record during the most recent week, with confirmed infections reaching 4,945, including 101 new cases in the previous 24 hours. Airfinity estimates the true number of infections could be five times higher than official figures.

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain first identified in Uganda in 2007, spreads through direct contact with blood and body fluids. WHO director‑general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak had a big head start and the agency is playing catch‑up, with many unknown transmission chains.

Armed conflict, population displacement and fragile health infrastructure have hampered WHO, MSF and other agencies. Sanitation collapse in DR Congo, as noted by Oxfam’s country director Manenji Mangundu, makes containment harder. Two vaccine candidates – one from Moderna and one from the University of Oxford – have begun phase‑1 safety trials, while the Serum Institute of India has manufactured 620,000 doses of the Oxford candidate.