Too Early to Declare DR Congo Ebola Outbreak Under Control, Says Africa CDC

September 4, 2026

Kinshasa: The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has cautioned that it is still too early to declare the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under control, despite a decline in reported cases over the past two weeks.

Wessam Mankoula, an Africa CDC official, said during an online press briefing on Thursday that health authorities were yet to see evidence of a sustained decline across the outbreak.

“We’re still early to say that we’re controlling the whole outbreak,” Mankoula said.

According to the latest government situation report published on Thursday, the DRC had recorded 6,250 confirmed Ebola cases and 3,039 deaths as of September 1, with a case fatality rate of 48.6 per cent. A total of 1,439 patients have recovered.

The outbreak has affected 60 health zones across six provinces.

Ebola cases decline, but transmission remains active

Mankoula said the number of reported cases had declined over the previous two weeks, but warned against interpreting the trend as proof that the outbreak was under control.

Four health zones have interrupted transmission after reporting no new cases for more than 42 days, while another five have gone between 21 and 42 days without recording a new case.

However, transmission remains active in 51 health zones, indicating that the virus continues to pose a serious public health threat.

“For the last two weeks, we are seeing a decline in the number of cases,” Mankoula said, adding that it was “very early to say we have a sustained decline in this outbreak.”

Community deaths raise concern

The Africa CDC official also highlighted continued delays in detecting cases and accessing medical care.

More than 60 per cent of deaths recorded over the previous seven days occurred in communities, according to Mankoula. The figure has raised concerns over people seeking treatment too late and the challenges faced by health authorities in identifying infections before they spread further.

The death toll from the outbreak has now crossed 3,000, with the United Nations warning that the virus is spreading faster than response efforts in some areas.

As of August 31, the DRC had recorded 6,186 confirmed cases and 3,007 deaths, according to an earlier official situation report. At that point, 1,409 patients had recovered, while another 830 remained in isolation or Ebola treatment centres.

Ituri remains Ebola outbreak epicentre

The outbreak has affected the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo, South Kivu and Bas-Uele.

Ituri remains the epicentre, accounting for 81.9 per cent of all confirmed cases recorded across the country.

The current outbreak was declared in May and has since become the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic recorded in the DRC. It is also the second-largest Ebola epidemic globally, behind the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa.

With transmission still active in most affected health zones and a significant proportion of deaths occurring within communities, health authorities continue to emphasise surveillance, early detection, treatment and rapid response.

The Africa CDC’s warning underscores that the recent decline in cases needs to be sustained before the DRC can be considered to have brought the Ebola outbreak under control.