DR Congo Ebola deaths pass 5,000 as cases reach neighbours

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 5,000 people, according to Congolese health ministry data reported on Saturday by Africanews and the South China Morning Post, and cases have now been recorded beyond its borders.

The ministry figures carried by both outlets put the toll at 5,026 deaths among 10,351 infections, close to a 50% lethality rate. BBC News cited the same government update as showing more than 10,300 confirmed cases and a 48.6% fatality rate, with eight of 26 provinces affected. Ituri and North Kivu, in the conflict-hit east, remain the centre: Africanews reported 9,782 confirmed cases and 4,792 deaths there.

Dr Patrick Otim, a programme area manager with the World Health Organization, called the toll a tragic milestone, saying it represents not just a number but families and communities devastated by the outbreak, and that the figure shows its severity.

The strain behind the outbreak, Bundibugyo, was declared in mid-May and has no approved vaccine or treatment; the BBC said clinical trials are under way while patients are treated for symptoms. The harder problem is finding people in time. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 80% of new cases are appearing outside monitored contact chains, and Otim said one-third of recorded deaths happened outside treatment centres before testing.

The regional map is widening. BBC News reported nine confirmed cases and two deaths in Kenya; Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths early in the outbreak but none since August, with border restrictions still in force. Nigeria said two suspected cases were isolated on Saturday and were being tested, after one confirmed case in October was flown to Switzerland. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the likelihood of infection for people in Europe is "very low."

This is DR Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak, according to the UN, and its deadliest, passing the 2,299 deaths recorded in 2018-2020; only the West Africa epidemic of 2014-2016, which the WHO says killed more than 11,325 people, was larger. Response teams have also faced violence: the BBC reported that a nurse was killed and another health worker injured this week, after local youths accused responders of contaminating water sources, according to UN-backed Radio Okapi. What families, border officials and exhausted health workers are waiting for now is faster contact tracing, safer access to Ituri's conflict areas, and proof that trials can produce a vaccine before unknown chains spread further. Wide World News reported the moment cases passed 10,000; the next marker is whether the curve bends.