The Democratic Republic of the Congo is grappling with the world’s second largest Ebola epidemic on record, with more than 2200 lives lost and 3300 confirmed infections since the outbreak was declared on 1 August 2018. The outbreak is occurring in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Neighbouring countries are taking steps to mitigate the risk of spread. The World Health Organization has more than 800 staff on the ground supporting the Government-led response together with national and international partners.

Total of 3393 cases (3274 confirmed & 118 probable), including 2235 deaths, 1122 survivors, and patients still under care.

Source: Ministry of Health, Democratic Republic of the Congo

For the latest information of the current situation and public health response by the Ministry of Health, WHO, and partners, please refer to the Disease Outbreak News and  Ebola situation reports.

The public health response pillar (Pillar 1) of the fourth Strategic Response Plan (SRP-4) for the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri seeks to take into account the new strategy to scale-up the response in order to interrupt the epidemic. It focuses on the following:

1. Detection and rapid isolation of cases;
2. Intensification of rapid multidisciplinary public health actions around any confirmed case;
3. Strengthening community engagement;
4. Strengthening the health system and effective coordination of the activities of local and international partners;
5. Synergies between public health activities and those of the security, humanitarian, financial and operational readiness sectors, and operational readiness of neighbouring countries, to create an enabling environment for the response.

More about the response:

• Preparedness
• Case Management and Infection Prevention & Control
• Investigational Therapeutics
• Vaccination
• Contact tracing, surveillance and laboratory
• Community engagement
• Social science research
• International traffic recommendations
• Ebola survivors
• Partners & networks
• Funding