Ebola deaths reach 5,026 in eastern DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Expresso das Ilhas
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed 5,026 of 10,351 infected people, according to health authorities. The toll as of 29 October puts the case fatality rate at 48.6%, while Ituri and North Kivu account for most new cases, according to the National Institute of Public Health.
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed 5,026 people out of 10,351 confirmed infections as of 29 October, according to the latest report by the Congolese National Institute of Public Health (INSP), cited by the authorities on Saturday. The case fatality rate has reached 48.6%.
The toll includes 2,788 patients who have recovered, while another 1,101 are hospitalised or in isolation. The monitoring of people who have been in contact with patients has reached 84.5%, according to the INSP, which has called for stronger early detection, contact tracing and the organisation of safe and dignified burials.
North Kivu province accounts for 58.4% of new cases and Ituri, the epicentre of the epidemic, for 36.4%. The virus now affects 67 health zones in eight of the country’s 26 provinces, including Tshopo, Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, South Kivu, South Ubangui and North Ubangui.
The African Union’s Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation called for urgent coordinated action on Wednesday, saying that the epidemic remained out of control. The death toll has now surpassed that of the epidemic in the same region between 2018 and 2020 and is approaching the figure reported in Ebola in DR Congo: death toll exceeds 5,000, published on 31 October 2026.
