The World Health Organization has confirmed that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is killing between 30% and 50% of those infected, a figure that officials have described as alarming given that more than one thousand confirmed and suspected cases have now been recorded since the outbreak was declared on 15 May. Anaïs Legand, a senior figure within the WHO's high threat pathogens team, noted that the estimate is based on confirmed cases alone, and cautioned that the true scale of the crisis is likely to be considerably larger, as the virus is believed to have circulated undetected for some weeks before being identified. Ten confirmed and 223 suspected deaths have so far been attributed to the outbreak.

The outbreak, which is centred on the north-eastern Ituri province, is complicated by the presence of armed groups that control large parts of the surrounding region. More than 245,000 people are reported to have fled eastern DRC to neighbouring countries since January 2025, according to the UN refugee agency, and aid organisations have warned that conflict and displacement are severely hampering containment efforts. The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group is understood to control significant territory in the North and South Kivu provinces immediately south of the outbreak's epicentre.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Kinshasa on Thursday and is expected to travel to Ituri province to observe response operations directly, though that visit has been delayed by at least a day. He has appealed publicly to all armed parties in the region to declare a ceasefire, arguing that no political or military grievance could justify the deaths that would follow from an uncontained outbreak of a preventable disease. The organisation has also stated its opposition to travel bans, which it regards as counterproductive to effective international response.

One note of cautious optimism has emerged: a patient was discharged from a health centre on 27 May following two negative tests, marking the first confirmed recovery of the outbreak. The Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current crisis has no approved treatment, which has led health authorities to focus resources on early detection, contact tracing, and the kind of community engagement that proved decisive in previous outbreaks. The disease, which was first identified in the DRC in 1976, has historically carried an average fatality rate of 50% across all recorded episodes in the country.