Africa CDC said the Ebola outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached 9,735 confirmed cases and 4,690 deaths across five countries, with Nigeria reporting an imported case this week.
At 23 weeks, the outbreak is about 3.2 times larger than any previous Ebola event at the same point, Dr. Wessam Mankoula, Africa CDC’s Director of Emergency, told a press briefing. West Africa’s 2014 epidemic had 3,069 cases by the same stage. The crude case fatality rate is 48.2%.
Nigeria confirmed a case on Oct. 20 in Abuja: a 40-year-old woman who reportedly returned from Uganda on Oct. 3. She developed symptoms on Oct. 7, was admitted to a private facility on Oct. 11, and is now in a treatment facility. Officials have listed 44 close contacts. The likely source of her exposure is not yet known, and Africa CDC described the information as preliminary.
Kenya has nine confirmed cases and one death, the index case, who died Oct. 5. The eight other cases were close contacts of that patient who developed symptoms in quarantine, four of them family members and four health workers. Kenya says no confirmed case has been found outside the index case’s contacts, with 9 of 447 samples testing positive. Officials report 211 isolation beds and lab turnaround of 6–12 hours.
Uganda, with 20 cases and 2 deaths, has declared its outbreak over. France recorded one imported case in June.
Of the total, 9,704 cases and 4,687 deaths are in DRC, spread across eight provinces and 66 health zones. Ituri and Nord-Kivu account for 94.7% of cases.
Weekly cases peaked at 570 in week 36 and fell to 376 in week 41. Over the last three weeks, new national cases were flat (+0.4%), while deaths fell 3%. Africa CDC urged caution, citing insecurity, strikes and community resistance in several affected areas.
Trends vary by area. Mongbwalu, Nia-Nia, Mangala and Katwa are improving, while Mandima, Beni and Mabalako continue to rise. In Mandima, new cases jumped 175% over three weeks. Fifteen of 66 affected zones have gone 21 days without a new case.
- Only about 12% of confirmed cases were known contacts, pointing to major gaps in contact listing.
- Community deaths have made up the majority of fatalities, at about 58% on Oct. 19.
- The median delay from symptom onset to notification is four days.
A therapeutic trial of remdesivir plus MBP134 has enrolled 762 participants against a target of 1,500–2,500. A post-exposure prophylaxis trial of obeldesivir has enrolled 577 of 1,000, with three more sites planned.
On vaccination, 13,531 health and frontline workers have received Ervebo through compassionate-use and observational programmes. Of 70,000 doses received, 20,000 are reserved for a Phase 3 ring-vaccination trial, scheduled to launch Oct. 23 in Bunia.
