Ebola

On 23 April 2022 health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province. This was the third outbreak in the province since 2018.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo had experienced its fourteenth Ebola outbreaks since 1976, the last outbreak being the sixth since 2018 alone – the most frequent occurrence in the country’s Ebola history. Previous outbreaks in Equateur Province were in 2020 and 2018, with 130 and 54 recorded cases respectively.

On 4 July 2022, the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared the end of the Ebola outbreak. Due to the robust response by the national authorities this outbreak was brought to an end swiftly with limited transmission of the virus. Crucial lessons have been learned from past outbreaks and they have been applied to devise and deploy an ever more effective Ebola response.WHO and partners are working with communities to encourage people to report any suspected cases and therefore allow for timely testing. WHO continues to support the Democratic Republic of the Congo to strengthen outbreak response to infectious diseases and other public health issues.