Jean Kaseya
Congolese doctor and public health expert
Photo: belgium24.eu, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)
- Aug 7
Congo's Ebola outbreak surpasses 4,000 cases as unpaid health workers protest and vaccine plan expands
The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record has exceeded 4,000 confirmed cases in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with health workers unpaid since mid-May and authorities expanding a Zaire-strain vaccine as a stop-gap against the Bundibugyo virus.
- Jul 3
Ebola outbreak in Congo kills 438, reaches Kisangani 600 km from epicentre; WHO starts clinical trial
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 438 people out of 1,406 cases, with a newly confirmed case in Kisangani, 600 km from the Ituri epicentre, raising fears of wider spread. The World Health Organization has launched a clinical trial for the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which no vaccine or treatment exists.
- Jun 16
Red Cross warns Ebola outbreak in DRC not yet peaked, could last a year as G7 urges coordinated response
The Ebola epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is still escalating and may persist for another 12 months, the Red Cross said on Tuesday, as G7 leaders called for a “strong and coordinated” reaction.
- May 28
WHO Chief Rushes to Congo as Rare, Vaccine-Less Ebola Strain Spirals Into Third-Largest Outbreak
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo as an Ebola outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain—which has no approved vaccine or treatment—surges past 1,000 suspected cases and 246 suspected deaths, prompting international emergency measures.