KINSHASA, June 22 — Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced in an updated epidemiological briefing on Sunday that the total number of confirmed Ebola cases across the country has crossed the 1,000 threshold, marking a worrisome milestone in the ongoing outbreak.
Latest official data released by the DRC Ministry of Health puts the current cumulative confirmed caseload at 1,003. As of the update, the outbreak has claimed 254 lives, bringing the overall case fatality rate to 25.3 percent. Of the active cases, 365 patients are currently receiving care in isolation facilities or hospital wards, while 100 people who contracted the virus have successfully recovered and been discharged.
The outbreak is concentrated across three provinces in the eastern part of the country, where public health teams are working to trace all close contacts of confirmed cases to slow transmission. Current data shows that just 58 percent of identified contacts are successfully being monitored and followed up, a gap that response teams are working to address.
Even as case numbers continue to climb, health authorities emphasize that all outbreak response operations remain fully active. Response measures include enhanced pathogen surveillance at border crossings and community levels, expanded public outreach and education campaigns to raise awareness of transmission risks, and ongoing work to boost clinical case management and expand diagnostic testing capacity across affected regions. The photo provided, captured on June 16 at an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, eastern DRC, shows frontline health workers drying disinfected protective gloves ahead of their next shift caring for patients.