The letter
Bulletin No. 127Situation as of 18 Sep 2026
Summary of the INSP bulletin, with each new release
The bulletin of 18 Sep 2026, published 19 Sep 2026, reports 73 new confirmed cases and 37 deaths. 73 cases is in line with the seven-day average of 71.6 a day. There is 1 new zone affected: Dungu (Haut-Uélé); the outbreak now affects 63 zones in 7 provinces.
01The toll
Since the outbreak began, 7,614 confirmed cases and 3,676 deaths: 48.3% of patients have died. 1,864 people have recovered. 41 more than the day before. 909 patients are hospitalised in Ebola treatment centres. Over the past seven days, an average of 71.6 cases and 34.1 deaths a day, against 84.4 cases and 43.3 deaths the week before.
02Where
Ituri accounts for 46 of the 73 new cases. Then Nord-Kivu with 18, Haut-Uélé with 6 and Tshopo with 3. The other 3 provinces report none. 5 zones carry 40 of these 73 cases: Bunia 11, Nia-Nia 9, Beni 8, Rwampara 7 and Komanda 5. 49 of the 63 affected health zones reported at least one new case in the past three weeks; 14 reported none.
03Deaths
Of the 37 deaths reported today, 25 occurred in the community, that is outside a treatment centre, and 12 in a treatment centre. Deaths outside a centre: 17 in Ituri, 4 in Nord-Kivu, 3 in Haut-Uélé and 1 in Tshopo. Those in a treatment centre: 10 in Ituri and 2 in Nord-Kivu. The 10 in Ituri have not yet been assigned to a specific health zone, like 477 deaths before them.
04The response
1,852 reports of possible patients ("alerts") were received; 1,447 were checked and 360 retained as suspected cases, to be tested. Of 360 samples tested in the laboratory, 73 were positive, that is 20.3 %. 87.8 % of the people who had been close to a patient (the "contacts") were seen by follow-up teams, above the 85% threshold the INSP has set itself. Ebola treatment centres are 63.7 % full: 899 patients for 1,412 beds. Beyond capacity: Nord-Kivu, 392 patients for 228 beds. Safe burials, carried out by protected teams to avoid contagion: 138 burials carried out and 116 bodies tested. The 110 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, 37 prevention rings were set up out of 46 expected, that is the disinfection of the home and the follow-up of relatives. Vaccination: 4,077 people have received the Ervebo vaccine since the campaign began on 26 Aug 2026: 3,369 in Tshopo and 708 in Bas-Uélé (figure of 17 Sep 2026). Since the previous bulletin, 306 more in Tshopo. At control points on roads and at borders, 281,145 travellers passed through and 97.0 % had a temperature check.
05The difficulties encountered
In Ituri, six treatment centres remain full on the suspected-case side, the Avakubi control point still cannot open for lack of security, and 8 zones out of 28 report their data. In Nord-Kivu, 42.9% of patients are treated outside the planned facilities, no bed is free in Butembo or Katwa, and 5 homes out of 15 have been disinfected. In Tshopo, fewer than a third of the targeted health workers are vaccinated and 631 thawed doses expire on 24 September. In Haut-Uélé, families are refusing to let bodies be tested and teams have been threatened in Isiro. In Bas-Uélé, still no treatment centre and no ambulance. In Sud-Kivu, no isolation room at any of the three entry points.