United Nations officials reported on Tuesday that efforts to curb the massive Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo are showing some progress, but warned it will take many months to bring the deadly outbreak under control. Total confirmed cases have reached 7,258 with 3,510 deaths across seven provinces.
The current Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to present a severe public health challenge, with transmission dynamics varying widely across affected locations. As the World Health Organization reported, cumulative figures reached 6,757 confirmed cases and 3,267 deaths within the country alone as of September 7, yielding a crude case fatality ratio of 48.3 percent. When accounting for international cases diagnosed or treated in Uganda, Germany, and France, the global total stood at 6,778 confirmed cases and 3,269 deaths.
While health screening remains operational at airports, ports, and official land border crossings, travel through informal routes continues to pose a persistent threat of regional exportation and cross-border transmission. In response to the expanding crisis, pharmaceutical preparations are underway, with NanoViricides receiving regulatory approval from local regulatory agency ACOREP to launch a Phase II clinical trial of NV-387 oral gummies in the country.
UN Officials Stress Epidemic Remains Massive While Ituri Indicators Turn Green
During a Geneva press briefing on Tuesday, U.N. special Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis offered a sober assessment of the ongoing response effort.
It remains a deadly and a massive epidemic. There are some areas of progress, but nonetheless, in other areas, we continue to see growth in cases.
Julien Harneis, U.N. special Ebola coordinator
The outbreak is now recorded as the second most lethal on record, standing behind only the West Africa epidemic that lasted from 2014 to 2016. Asked about speculation regarding a potential turning point, Olivier le Polain of the World Health Organization cautioned that it’s too early to confidently say we have passed a peak
and estimated that it will take many, many months to get this outbreak under control fully, and it will require significant support
.
Yet relief is visible in specific regional pockets. Speaking in Ituri province, where the first cases were recorded, Jean-Jacques Muyembe described a marked shift in local metrics.
Here in Ituri, the indicators are turning green, whereas they were previously all red. We are not saying that we have ended the epidemic, but we are saying that the response teams… have the situation under control.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research
Muyembe added that he hoped the epidemic would be behind them by the end of the year.
Congo Health Minister Cites Decreasing Daily Cases
On Saturday, Congo Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba pointed to encouraging trends following what he identified as a transmission peak in mid-August. According to government figures published on Tuesday, nationwide totals across seven provinces reached 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths.
Kamba reported that daily new cases had dropped from approximately 120 at the peak of the epidemic down to around 80. Furthermore, 10 out of the 62 affected health zones had recorded no new cases for more than 22 days.
To me, these figures are a positive sign. They demonstrate that the efforts deployed on the ground are yielding results and that our response strategy is beginning to bend the transmission curve.
Samuel Roger Kamba, Congo Health Minister
Even with these positive indicators, Kamba emphasized that response teams must remain fully mobilized and avoid lowering their guard.
North Kivu Faces Alarm Over Rising Infections and Complex Security
While Ituri stabilizes, the epidemiological situation in North Kivu tells a sharply different story. U.N. officials noted that cases continue to rise rapidly in the province, particularly within the city of Butembo. Harneis noted that the outbreak is such a vast epidemic that it’s difficult to talk about one epidemic, but there’s rather many different locations
.
Le Polain reinforced that observation, noting from past experience that an epidemic can show early signs of improvement and then pick up again quite quickly
.
On the ground, aid organizations stress that additional operational capacity is urgently required. Thomas Paerisch, a public health specialist deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo with Médecins Sans Frontières, described the environment as deeply challenging.
The situation in North Kivu, with its very complex security situation, high population density and mobility, is alarming.
Thomas Paerisch, public health specialist with Médecins Sans Frontières
North Kivu stands as the second most affected province, accumulating 1,269 confirmed cases, with 555 of those reported in the 21 days leading up to September 12.
Phase II Clinical Trial Preparations for NV-387 Oral Gummies
Amid ongoing treatment constraints, drug sponsor NanoViricides announced that preparations for a Phase II clinical trial of NV-387 oral gummies are advancing in the country. Professor Patrick Katoto, co-director and co-founder of the Centre for Tropical Diseases and Global Health and associate professor at the Catholic University of Bukavu, has been appointed as the principal investigator for the trial.
Because the clinical trial material was already positioned in the country for an impending mpox evaluation, the investigational broad-spectrum antiviral drug product is already available in the DRC. Katoto and his team have initiated staff training to accelerate time to first patient dosing, anticipating that treatments could begin within weeks.
