Understand
Glossary
The words used in the bulletins and on this site, as they are used here. Sixteen entries, from confirmed case to situation report.
- Alert
- A report of a suspected case or death to be checked. It is “validated” when it meets the suspected-case definition.
- Bundibugyo
- One of the ebolavirus species, distinct from the Zaire species of previous outbreaks. No licensed vaccine targets it.
- Case fatality
- The share of confirmed cases who have died. It is calculated on cumulative totals since the start of the outbreak.
- Community death
- The death of a confirmed case outside a treatment centre, at home or on the way. It signals a patient the response did not reach in time.
- Confirmed case
- A person whose infection is established by a laboratory test. Only confirmed cases are counted on this site.
- Contact
- A person exposed to a patient: family, carer, neighbour. They are followed for 21 days, the maximum incubation period.
- Contact follow-up
- The share of contacts actually seen each day by the teams. WHO aims for 95%; in the DRC the rate hovers around 85%.
- Epicentre
- The zone where the outbreak starts and where it is concentrated. In 2026, Bunia and Ituri.
- ETC
- Ebola treatment centre: the facility where patients are isolated and cared for. “Patients in isolation” means the patients who are there.
- Health zone
- The basic unit of the Congolese health system, 519 for the whole country. Each zone is divided into health areas.
- Probable case
- A patient or deceased person who showed signs of the disease and had a link to a confirmed case, without a tested sample.
- Recovered
- A patient discharged from an ETC after two negative tests 48 hours apart.
- Response
- All the actions taken to stop the outbreak: finding patients, testing and treating them, following up the people who were in contact with them, vaccinating, burying the dead safely and informing the public.
- Safe and dignified burial
- A burial carried out by a trained team, because the body of a deceased person remains contagious.
- SitRep
- The daily situation report of the INSP, the main source of this site. Each bulletin has a number.
- Suspected case
- A person whose symptoms suggest Ebola, awaiting a test. Becomes confirmed, probable or ruled out.