WHO Says Most DRC Ebola Victims Die in Community not Clinics (Video)
Last update: August 13, 2026
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Three months in, officials admit they are chasing the virus, with most deaths happening out of sight at home.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Professor Mohamed Janabi said 60 to 70 percent of Ebola deaths in DRC are occurring at home, while health authorities are detecting only around a third of the outbreak.
He told a press briefing in Bunia on Monday, 10th August 2026
Three months into the outbreak, if we are seeing only 30 percent, if we are seeing only one third, can we sit down and review our approach?
National Incident Manager for the Ebola Response, Dr Steve Ahuka, said findings must now translate into measures implemented and monitored over the next 12 weeks.
"I remain convinced that, with the collaboration of WHO and all the partners, we can quite clearly reverse the curve of the outbreak and save lives".
WHO Representative in DRC Dr Anne Ancia said stronger community engagement will be crucial, as many deaths are occurring outside health facilities.
She stressed: "The deaths are occurring in the community. We have called ourselves experts. We bring technical expertise, but we cannot do the work in place of the communities".
Officials said the coming weeks will focus on greater community mobilisation to curb the outbreak.
More than 4,200 confirmed cases and over 1,900 deaths have been reported in DRC as of 10 August, according to WHO. This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DRC since 1976, and already the second largest ever recorded and the fastest growing on record, now surpassing the 2018 to 2020 epidemic.
The culprit is the Bundibugyo virus, first identified in Uganda in 2007. It has only caused two previous outbreaks, in Uganda in 2007 and in DRC in 2012, with 52 cases and 29 deaths.
That is why there is still no approved vaccine or specific treatment, though trials are now under way. The virus spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated materials.
As cbinews.tv notes, this comes 50 years after the first Ebola outbreaks in 1976, yet trust and access remain the biggest challenges.
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