According to health ministry data released late Sunday, more than 900 suspected cases have been recorded across 11 health zones spanning three eastern provinces. Regional figures show cumulative suspected deaths had reached 210 as of May 23.
The outbreak highlights the persistent challenges of responding to Ebola in one of the world’s most unstable regions, where armed groups control large areas of territory, health infrastructure is fragile and repeated attacks on treatment centres have disrupted containment operations.
Health workers have been able to follow up with only around 20% of identified contacts in a single day, according to the ministry’s data, significantly limiting efforts to trace infections and break chains of transmission.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said violence was directly undermining response operations.
“The violence is forcing people to flee, including health and humanitarian workers,” Tedros wrote on social media on Sunday. “This is severely impeding efforts to scale up Ebola contact tracing and identify infections early enough to provide supportive care.”
Tensions have also escalated on the ground, with reports of angry residents in the town of Mongbwalu late Sunday after authorities refused to release bodies for burial due to infection risks, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier unrest in Ituri province — located along the Ugandan border where the outbreak was first detected and where most cases are concentrated — resulted in Ebola treatment tents being set on fire and patients fleeing treatment facilities, according to local reports.
Regional health ministers meeting in Kampala, Uganda, on Saturday warned that porous borders, active mining routes and high population movement were increasing the risk of cross-border transmission.
Ten African countries are now considered at risk due to regional mobility and gaps in surveillance and diagnostic capacity, said Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya.
The outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or antibody-based treatments. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.
Uganda has also reported five confirmed cases linked to the outbreak, raising concerns of further regional spread.
International response efforts are also under strain. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an American infected while treating Ebola patients in Congo had been evacuated to Germany for medical care, while high-risk contacts were transferred to Germany and the Czech Republic for monitoring.
As the outbreak continues to spread in a volatile security environment, health authorities warn that controlling transmission will depend heavily on restoring access for medical teams, improving community trust and strengthening cross-border coordination.
