The letter
Bulletin No. 101Situation as of 23 Aug 2026
Summary of the INSP bulletin, with each new release
70 new cases, 38 deaths
The bulletin of 23 Aug 2026, published 24 Aug 2026, reports 70 new confirmed cases and 38 deaths. 70 cases is below the seven-day average of 80.4 a day. No new health zone since 21 Aug 2026: the outbreak remains in 57 zones across 6 provinces.
Since the outbreak began, 5,584 confirmed cases and 2,680 deaths: 48.0% of patients have died. 1,215 people have recovered. 15 more than the day before. 846 patients are hospitalised in Ebola treatment centres. Over the past seven days, an average of 80.4 cases and 43.1 deaths a day, against 91.4 cases and 52.4 deaths the week before.
02 Where
Ituri accounts for 48 of the 70 new cases. Then Nord-Kivu with 14 and Haut-Uélé with 8. The other 3 provinces report none. 5 zones carry 47 of these 70 cases: Bunia 19, Rwampara 11, Mangala 6, Katwa 6 and Wamba 5. 47 of the 57 affected health zones reported at least one new case in the past three weeks; 10 reported none.
03 Deaths
Of the 38 deaths reported today, 16 occurred in the community, that is outside a treatment centre, and 22 in a treatment centre. Deaths outside a centre: 8 in Nord-Kivu, 6 in Ituri and 2 in Haut-Uélé. Those in a treatment centre: 17 in Ituri and 5 in Haut-Uélé. The 17 in Ituri have not yet been assigned to a specific health zone, like 233 deaths before them.
04 The response
1,539 reports of possible patients ("alerts") were received; 1,337 were checked and 277 retained as suspected cases, to be tested. Of 459 samples tested in the laboratory, 70 were positive, that is 15.3 %. This share reaches 25.8 % in Haut-Uélé. 83.4 % 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. Ebola treatment centres hold 62 patients per 100 beds: 815 patients for 1,315 beds. Safe burials, carried out by protected teams to avoid contagion: 121 deaths reported, 107 burials carried out, 100 bodies tested. 16 bodies could not be tested because families objected. Around new cases, 18 prevention rings were set up out of 79 expected, that is the disinfection of the home and the follow-up of relatives.
05 The difficulties encountered
In Ituri, prevention rings are set up around only 22.8% of new cases, 16 tests on bodies failed, and families opposed safe burials in Bambu, Nyankunde, Mangala, Aru, Bunia and Tchomia; at the Zunguluka control point two bodies could not be tested because of insecurity, and staff at the Mudzibala point were assaulted. In Haut-Uélé, the Red Cross team was assaulted on Nganzi avenue, where residents refused the disinfection of the home of a person who died of Ebola. In Bas-Uélé, the home of the relatives of Buta's first patient is still not disinfected, the training of 500 health workers did not take place and several supplies are running low. Control points sent only 81.8% of the expected reports, 42% in Bas-Uélé and 45% in Haut-Uélé; in Tshopo, 7 of 20 points are working and the incinerator of the Kisangani hospital is broken. In Nord-Kivu, residents of Mabalako still refuse to have their contacts listed, and staff in both Kivus are unpaid.