How many Ebola cases and deaths have been reported across Congo's provinces?

Tedros said more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces. He also said the epidemic continues to grow and continues to kill.

What did WHO officials say about the outlook for Congo's Ebola outbreak?

Maria Van Kerkhove said WHO can be cautiously optimistic about what is happening, but she warned that the road ahead is still difficult and that trend analysis takes time. Tedros also said South Kivu has had no new cases since May.

WHO sees some progress in Congo's Ebola fight but cases surge in one area

Q: What did WHO say about the Ebola outbreak in Ituri and North Kivu in Congo?

WHO said transmission is going down in the most affected parts of Ituri province, but cases are rising fast in North Kivu. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the area is so vast that it is really many outbreaks in many places.

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Summary

WHO says it is seeing encouraging signs in parts of eastern Congo’s Ebola outbreak, especially in Ituri province, while cases are rising fast in North Kivu. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said transmission is going down in the most affected parts of Ituri and that South Kivu has had no new cases since May. He said the epidemic is still growing across seven provinces, with more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths reported. Maria Van Kerkhove said officials can be cautiously optimistic but must remain realistic.

Key Facts

Tedros said the most affected parts of Ituri province are showing declining transmission.
South Kivu has reported no new Ebola cases since May.
More than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces.
In North Kivu, weekly cases have nearly doubled over the past two weeks, from about 100 to more than 200.
Maria Van Kerkhove said WHO can be cautiously optimistic but warned that more time is needed to assess trends.

By AP

Published Sep 18, 2026 9:53 am KST

Health workers prepare to transfer the body of Abineno Justine, a 38-year-old woman who died of the Ebola virus, to a coffin ahead of her burial in Bunia, Congo, Sept. 4. AP-Yonhap

GENEVA — The head of the U.N. health agency is hailing “encouraging signs” in the fight against an Ebola outbreak in one part of eastern Congo, while warning that case counts are rising fast in another as officials race to tamp down the virus.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that signs of gaining ground against the Bundibugyo virus, the rare species behind the outbreak, have emerged in Ituri province. But he said that the situation is one of “many outbreaks in many places.”

“We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground. In the most affected parts of Ituri province, transmission is going down,” Tedros told reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

South Kivu, he said, has reported no new cases since May.

“But make no mistake, the epidemic continues to grow and continues to kill,” Tedros said. He said more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces.

In North Kivu, “cases are rising fast,” Tedros said. The number of weekly cases has nearly doubled over the past two weeks, from about 100 to more than 200. “The area is so vast that it’s hard to speak of a single epidemic. It’s many outbreaks in many places.”

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic management, said that “we can be cautiously optimistic about what is happening, but I think we need to be realistic about the road that’s ahead of us. Looking at trends takes time.”

Last week, officials in Congo said that the world’s fastest-growing outbreak of the disease on record had now spread to seven provinces in the African country, and was showing no signs of slowing down.

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