Ebola cases increase almost 40% in a week as death toll passes 200

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo and Uganda has entered a more dangerous phase, with 894 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths, according to Africa CDC figures reported by AP. Health officials said the case count rose 38% in the past week, a sign that transmission is still accelerating.

The latest update shows an outbreak that is no longer confined to a single area. AP reported that cases are centered in eastern Congo, including Ituri province, and have also spread to North Kivu, South Kivu and Uganda. Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases and two deaths.

The death toll crossing 200 is a grim marker for a response that has struggled to keep pace with the virus. The outbreak was only confirmed in mid-May, after what officials believe may have been weeks of undetected spread.

A fast-moving outbreak

Africa CDC said the epidemic is the worst at this early stage compared with previous Ebola outbreaks at the same point, AP reported. That assessment reflects both the pace of spread and the difficulty of reaching communities quickly enough to interrupt transmission.

The virus involved is the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccines or treatments. That leaves containment dependent on the basics of outbreak control: surveillance, isolation, safe burials, contact tracing and rapid case finding.

Those measures are proving hard to sustain. AP reported that only about 4,000 of an estimated 35,000 contacts have been traced, leaving health workers with a large gap in monitoring people who may have been exposed.

The geography adds another layer of difficulty. Response teams are working in a region affected by insecurity, displacement, remote terrain and weak surveillance systems, all of which can slow case detection and limit access to patients and contacts.

Reports from the ground have also described weak hospital capacity and community mistrust, which can make it harder for families to seek care early or cooperate with contact tracing. In an outbreak like this, delays of even a few days can matter.

Response and funding

The outbreak is now drawing new international funding. The Guardian reported that the U.S. CDC will tap $107 million in emergency funding for the response in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

CDC officials quoted in that report said global risk remains low even as local risk is high. That distinction is important: while the current flare-up is concentrated in eastern Congo and neighboring Uganda, the operational burden on health systems there is substantial.

AP's reporting also shows how quickly the situation has worsened in recent days. On June 15, the latest figures cited by The Guardian put the total at 837 confirmed cases in the DRC and 19 in Uganda, with 198 deaths overall. By June 18, AP was reporting 894 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths.

Earlier AP and Le Monde reporting had already shown the outbreak advancing quickly. On June 13, authorities were reporting 782 confirmed cases and 181 deaths in eastern Congo, underscoring how rapidly the caseload rose before the latest update.

What comes next

The next key question is whether the weekly increase slows in the next official situation report or continues to climb. Officials are also watching for revised Uganda totals, province-level breakdowns and any sign that contact tracing is improving.

More funding or deployment announcements could follow from the CDC, WHO or Africa CDC as the response tries to close the gap between confirmed cases and traced contacts. For now, the outbreak remains a fast-moving public-health emergency with limited visibility into the true scale of infection.

The immediate risk is not just the headline number of cases, but the combination of spread across borders, strained surveillance and a response that is still trying to catch up. With deaths now above 200 and cases up nearly 40% in a week, officials are warning that containment will depend on whether teams can reach exposed contacts before the virus does.