The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains uncontrolled, with cases surging sharply in the eastern province of North Kivu even as select regions show tentative signs of improvement, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official warned on Wednesday, 23 September 2026. The DRC has recorded 7,773 confirmed cases and 3,759 deaths as of Monday, according to health authorities in the country.

Outbreak Status and Key Figures

Marie Roseline Belizaire, director of the WHO emergencies programme in the African region, said during an online press briefing that the situation continues to evolve unevenly across the country's affected provinces. Between 31 August and 20 September, cases declined by approximately 26 per cent in Ituri Province — the long-time epicentre of the outbreak — and by around 15 per cent in Haut-Uele Province.

However, North Kivu recorded a dramatic 73 per cent increase in cases over the same period. 'This clearly shows that the outbreak continues to evolve differently across the affected areas,' Belizaire said, noting that each of the seven affected provinces carries its own distinct transmission pattern.

WHO Warning: 'Not Under Control'

'The outbreak is still not under control,' Belizaire stated plainly. 'This outbreak continues to pose a significant risk to regional and global health security.' The warning underscores fears that the virus could spread beyond DRC's borders into neighbouring countries, given the highly mobile populations in the region's eastern provinces.

Contact follow-up has reportedly improved to nearly 88 per cent, but officials acknowledge that too many new infections are still being detected without a known epidemiological link — highlighting what Belizaire described as 'persistent gaps in surveillance.'

Children Under Five Among the Hardest Hit

Children under the age of five remain particularly vulnerable to the current outbreak, with a case fatality rate exceeding 60 per cent — compared with approximately 40 per cent among adults, according to the WHO official. The disparity points to severe strain on paediatric care infrastructure in conflict-affected areas of eastern DRC, where health facilities are routinely understaffed and under-resourced.

Historical Scale and Global Context

The outbreak, declared in May, has already become the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest globally, trailing only the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic. That epidemic killed more than 11,300 people across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, making the current DRC crisis a benchmark-level public health emergency.

Notably, this is not the DRC's first encounter with Ebola — the country has endured multiple outbreaks over five decades. But the scale and geographic spread of the current wave sets it apart from all previous episodes within the country's borders.

What the Response Must Focus On

Belizaire stressed that resources must now be concentrated in areas where transmission risk is highest. 'We must consolidate the progress made in Ituri, strengthen the response in North Kivu and other emerging hotspots, detect cases earlier, reduce community deaths, and maintain strong cross-border preparedness,' she said. Officials are also calling for sustained maintenance of essential health services alongside the emergency response, warning against diverting critical capacity solely to outbreak containment.

With North Kivu's situation deteriorating and surveillance gaps persisting, the coming weeks will be critical in determining whether the outbreak can be brought under control or risks a wider regional spread.