The Democratic Republic of Congo’s recent Ebola outbreak is showing signs of easing in some areas, but a sharp rise in North Kivu is threatening to prolong the country’s deadliest Ebola epidemic in years.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that new cases and deaths in North Kivu had doubled over the past two weeks, even as transmission slowed in parts of Ituri province, where the outbreak was first detected in May.
Olivier le Polain, head of the WHO’s epidemiology and analytics response unit, said authorities had recorded 7,200 Ebola cases and 3,475 deaths across seven provinces as of September 12.
“We are seeing some progress, particularly in Ituri province and its capital Bunia, some areas are under control,” Le Polain told a press conference in Geneva.
However, he pointed to Butembo in North Kivu as a major source of concern. He said the situation there was moving in the opposite direction.
“However, there are other areas like in Butembo in North Kivu where we’re seeing the numbers come up,” he said.
North Kivu accounted for about 45 per cent of all new Ebola cases recorded across the country in the previous week. The development has complicated efforts to contain the outbreak, despite indications from the Congolese government that the epidemic may have reached its peak in August.
Le Polain said the epidemiological picture was uneven, with some locations recording slower transmission while others were experiencing renewed growth.
The WHO official described the outbreak as still “vast”, pointing to the fact that the reduction in national indicators has not yet translated into consistent control across the affected provinces.
The current epidemic is the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has already become the country’s worst Ebola outbreak, with more than 3,400 deaths recorded since the disease began spreading in May.
Health authorities have also detected Ebola in South Ubangi province, taking the number of affected provinces to seven.
The pattern of transmission has varied significantly from one region to another.
South Kivu has reported no new case since the end of May, according to Le Polain. Parts of Ituri have also registered slower transmission, which gives health workers some indication that containment measures are producing results in those locations.
However, Upper Uele continues to record between 30 and 40 new cases each week, adding another layer of pressure to the response.
The uneven spread means that a decline in the national figures cannot yet be treated as the end of the emergency. Ebola containment depends heavily on identifying infections quickly, tracing contacts, isolating patients, and maintaining effective infection-control measures around health facilities and communities.
The figures also highlight the difficulty of containing an outbreak once transmission becomes established across several provinces. Gains made in one area can be offset by renewed infections elsewhere.
Le Polain said the available indicators had yet to demonstrate the level of improvement expected by the WHO and other organisations involved in the response.
The outbreak has placed considerable pressure on healthcare workers and emergency teams operating across affected communities. Previous WHO assessments have also pointed to the need for additional health workers to strengthen the response.
The assessment therefore presents a mixed picture. Ituri and South Kivu offer evidence that transmission can be brought down, while North Kivu and Upper Uele show how quickly the disease can regain momentum.
Until those contrasting trends converge, the WHO’s assessment is clear: the Democratic Republic of Congo has not yet turned the corner on Ebola.
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