Congo's Ebola outbreak now second largest on record, as more than 1500 dead
Since May, the DRC has grappled with the fastest-growing epidemic of the disease in history
Congo's Ebola outbreak is the second largest on record globally, government data showed on Friday, as transmission continues to outpace efforts to contain the disease.
Listen to this article
Congo reported 3,532 cases on Friday, surpassing the total 3,481 cases recorded during the 2018-20 outbreak. Total deaths stood at 1,556, the Central African country's communications ministry said on X.
Since May, the DRC has grappled with the fastest-growing epidemic of the disease in history.
Only West Africa's 2014-16 outbreak was larger, with 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization.
The ministry added that the outbreak has been contained to 48 zones and is largely concentrated in five provinces: Haut-Uélé, Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, and Tshopo.
Read more: Hamas agrees to completely disarm in Gaza as Trump announces historic Middle-East peace deal
"CREC and RECO teams continue proximity actions in the affected provinces to strengthen community adherence to prevention measures," they said.
"At entry and control points, travellers are sensitised, screened, and encouraged to adopt protective measures.
"Communication also highlights recovery testimonies and the work of frontline teams, while strengthening mechanisms to prevent abuse and protect communities."
Neighbouring Uganda's health minister declared the country Ebola-free on Tuesday following the East African nation's latest outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic disease that infected 20 people and killed two of them.
Uganda has suffered multiple outbreaks of Ebola since 2000, when it recorded its first epidemic, and officials say over the years the country gained expertise it has used to bring recent infections under control quickly with limited community spread.
Fifteen people in the latest outbreak, declared in mid-May, were infected in Democratic Republic of Congo - the epicentre of the epidemic.
The last Ebola patient in Uganda, a Congolese national, was discharged on June 22. That is short of the 42-day waiting period required by the World Health Organization to declare the end of an outbreak.
But Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said the announcement follows the "successful completion of the mandatory 42-day monitoring period which began after the discharge of the last Ugandan national, a locally transmitted patient, on the 16 of June, 2026."
Of the 20 confirmed cases during the outbreak, 18 were discharged while two died from the virus, both of whom were from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"Throughout this period the ministry of health maintained intensive surveillance nationwide and no new Ebola cases have been detected," Baryomunsi said.
Officials say Uganda's many tropical forests that teem with fruit bats, which are natural reservoirs for the virus, make it vulnerable to frequent outbreaks.
The virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue and symptoms include headache, vomiting of blood, muscle pains and bleeding.