The letter
Bulletin No. 102Situation as of 24 Aug 2026
Summary of the INSP bulletin, with each new release
The bulletin of 24 Aug 2026, published 25 Aug 2026, reports 72 new confirmed cases and 35 deaths. 72 cases is in line with the seven-day average of 78.7 a day. There is 1 new zone affected: Ganga (Bas-Uélé); the outbreak now affects 58 zones in 6 provinces.
01The toll
Since the outbreak began, 5,656 confirmed cases and 2,715 deaths: 48.0% of patients have died. 1,245 people have recovered. 30 more than the day before. 792 patients are hospitalised in Ebola treatment centres. Over the past seven days, an average of 78.7 cases and 42.1 deaths a day, against 93.7 cases and 51.3 deaths the week before.
02Where
Ituri accounts for 61 of the 72 new cases. Then Nord-Kivu with 7, Haut-Uélé with 3 and Bas-Uélé with 1. The other 2 provinces report none. 5 zones carry 50 of these 72 cases: Bunia 14, Bambu 12, Nizi 10, Lita 7 and Rwampara 7. 49 of the 58 affected health zones reported at least one new case in the past three weeks; 9 reported none.
03Deaths
Of the 35 deaths reported today, 18 occurred in the community, that is outside a treatment centre, and 17 in a treatment centre. Deaths outside a centre: 15 in Ituri and 3 in Nord-Kivu. Those in a treatment centre: 16 in Ituri and 1 in Haut-Uélé. The 16 in Ituri have not yet been assigned to a specific health zone, like 250 deaths before them.
04The response
1,800 reports of possible patients ("alerts") were received; 1,663 were checked and 311 retained as suspected cases, to be tested. Of 468 samples tested in the laboratory, 72 were positive, that is 15.4 %. 80.9 % 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 Nord-Kivu. Ebola treatment centres are 59.4 % full: 781 patients for 1,314 beds. Safe burials, carried out by protected teams to avoid contagion: 44 deaths reported, 44 burials carried out, 44 bodies tested. Around new cases, 23 prevention rings were set up out of 59 expected, that is the disinfection of the home and the follow-up of relatives. At control points on roads and at borders, 264,624 travellers passed through and 97.9 % had a temperature check.
05The difficulties encountered
In Ituri, prevention rings are set up around 39% of new cases; a burial team member died in a road accident in Bambu and two others were assaulted in Rwampara; residents refused to be tested in Nia-Nia and Alimasi, and 48 contacts could not be listed in Kilo État; the Bambu, Kilo and Kigonze centres are full. In Nord-Kivu, there are more suspected patients than beds, 143 for 142, and families still oppose safe burials in Katwa, Butembo, Kalunguta and Beni, where the road to the Bundji cemetery remains impassable. In Haut-Uélé, five control points are closed by a strike of unpaid staff, and teams were assaulted in Isiro and Pawa. In Bas-Uélé, the home of Buta's first patient is still not disinfected and control points sent only 22% of their reports. Veterinary teams do not know how to take samples, while 29 dead animals were examined and 4 cattle with blood in their urine were reported in Berunda.