DR Congo: DRC: One month on, MSF warns dangerous gaps persist in Ebola disease response

Democratic Republic of the Congo Source: Médecins Sans Frontières BUNIA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 15 June 2026 — One month after the Ebola disease outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that , despite the recent scale-up in the response, major gaps in surveillance, diagnosis, contact tracing and community engagement continue to undermine efforts to bring the outbreak under control. A response that is proportionate to the scale of the outbreak is urgently needed. “One month on, the Ebola disease outbreak is outpacing the response effort,” says Kate White, emergency medical coordinator for MSF in DRC. “No one knows the true scale or exactly where the disease is spreading in DRC. What we do know is that most treatment centres in Ituri province are overwhelmed; many of our patients arrive at a late stage of the disease, and the majority were never identified or monitored as contacts before seeking care.” The disease is spreading across Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces in eastern DRC, with Ituri accounting for nearly 95 per cent of the cases. The response, led by the Congolese Ministry of Health and supported by several international partners, is being put in place in the affected areas. Unfortunately, insecurity makes it difficult to reach certain communities, and even in more stable areas, efforts to detect cases, test patients, identify contacts, and monitor transmission are insufficient. In neighbouring Uganda, 19 confirmed cases have also been reported by the health authorities. Congolese health authorities officially reported more than 650 confirmed cases and over 130 deaths. However, MSF warns that these figures likely represent only part of the picture. “Testing remains one of the most significant weaknesses in the response, despite recent improvements in laboratory capacity and the arrival of hundreds of mobile test kits in eastern DRC, designed specifically for the Bundibugyo vir