The letter
Bulletin No. 097Situation as of 19 Aug 2026
Summary of the INSP bulletin, with each new release
81 new cases, 40 deaths
The bulletin of 19 Aug 2026, published 20 Aug 2026, reports 81 new confirmed cases and 40 deaths. 81 cases is in line with the seven-day average of 89.3 a day. No new health zone since 18 Aug 2026: the outbreak remains in 56 zones across 6 provinces.
Since the outbreak began, 5,290 confirmed cases and 2,516 deaths: 47.6% of patients have died. 1,152 people have recovered. 37 more than the day before. 837 patients are hospitalised in Ebola treatment centres. Over the past seven days, an average of 89.3 cases and 47.4 deaths a day, against 87.4 cases and 47.6 deaths the week before.
02 Where
Ituri accounts for 56 of the 81 new cases. Then Nord-Kivu with 18 and Haut-Uélé with 7. The other 3 provinces report none. 5 zones carry 57 of these 81 cases: Bunia 25, Mangala 10, Nizi 9, Rwampara 7 and Beni 6. 48 of the 56 affected health zones reported at least one new case in the past three weeks; 8 reported none.
03 Deaths
Of the 40 deaths reported today, 23 occurred in the community, that is outside a treatment centre, and 17 in a treatment centre. Deaths outside a centre: 13 in Ituri, 8 in Nord-Kivu and 2 in Haut-Uélé. Those in a treatment centre: 13 in Ituri and 4 in Nord-Kivu. The 13 in Ituri have not yet been assigned to a specific health zone, like 174 deaths before them.
04 The response
1,904 reports of possible patients ("alerts") were received; 1,752 were checked and 366 retained as suspected cases, to be tested. Haut-Uélé did not send its figures. Of 422 samples tested in the laboratory, 81 were positive, that is 19.2 %. 82.9 % of the people who had been close to a patient (the "contacts") were seen by follow-up teams, below the 85% threshold the INSP has set itself. Fewer than three contacts in four were seen in the following provinces: Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé. Ebola treatment centres hold 62 patients per 100 beds: 800 patients for 1,301 beds. Safe burials, carried out by protected teams to avoid contagion: 124 burials carried out and 110 bodies tested. The 134 deaths reported do not come from the same provinces: not all of them publish these figures, and the three numbers are not comparable. Around new cases, 19 prevention rings were set up out of 70 expected, that is the disinfection of the home and the follow-up of relatives.
05 The difficulties encountered
In Ituri, a safe-burial team was attacked in Mungamba, in the Komanda zone, a vehicle damaged and the team escorted by the army; refusals of safe burial are reported in Aru, Bambu, Rwampara, Nia-Nia, Tchomia and Mandima, 77 patients in Kilo, Sota, Bambu, Lolwa and Mangala receive no food support, three patients fled the Kigonze and Nizi centres, the Bambu, Nizi, Kilo, Logo and Kigonze centres are saturated, and 19 prevention rings were opened out of 70 expected. In Nord-Kivu, beds for suspected cases are 103% occupied, suspected cases from Butembo, Masereka, Vuhovi and Kalunguta are isolated outside transit centres, 5 control-point staff out of 18 have been paid, two community relays in Beni had their homes targeted by an arson attempt and a member of a burial team was assaulted in Kasanga. In Bas-Uélé, a family prevented the disinfection of two homes and the safe burial of a suspected death at the Likati hospital, no ambulance is available, and contact follow-up remains weak, as in Haut-Uélé. In Tshopo, 17 entry points are active out of 22 planned, with no isolation facility, and the treatment centre lacks space, power and safe blood. Haut-Uélé and Tshopo sent no data on their control points.