Congo’s Ebola crisis can still be contained within three months if adequate resources are allocated to response teams. The most recent official data reports 5,021 confirmed cases and 2,378 fatalities as of Aug. 16. Currently, cases are distributed across 55 health zones in six provinces, with the case fatality ratio reaching 47.4%. This toll makes it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the history of the country and the second-largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded worldwide.

DRC malaria response targets a disease that caused more than 26 million cases in 2025. The data was issued by the National Malaria Control Programme as health officials intensified malaria intervention efforts in Ituri. Control strategies must persist, according to Dembo, while existing interventions are further strengthened. He highlighted the need for approaches tailored to the specific conditions of individual health zones. The current initiative in Ituri focuses on widespread distribution of antimalarial medications. This campaign was launched as part of broader efforts to prevent and treat malaria. The programme oversees national actions aimed at decreasing infection rates, severe cases, and mortality caused by malaria. World Health Organization estimates indicate that there were 282 million malaria cases globally in 2024, resulting in 610,000 deaths. Africa accounted for approximately 95% of both the world’s malaria cases and fatalities that year. The continent recorded an estimated 265 million cases and 579,000 deaths. Within this region, the Democratic Republic of the Congo contributed to 11.7% of malaria deaths in Africa. According to WHO data, children under five years old represented roughly three quarters of malaria-related deaths across the continent. These statistics place the DRC among the countries with the highest malaria burden worldwide. Continued Malaria Challenges in Africa Malaria primarily spreads through bites from infected female Anopheles mosquitoes and remains both preventable and treatable. Early symptoms typically include fever, chills, and headaches. Severe infections can lead to breathing difficulties, seizures,

Global health authorities delivered assessments on Friday indicating that the public health emergency in Central Africa is advancing at an unprecedented pace. The World Health Organization confirmed that if community transmission remains unchecked and regional supply chains continue to face disruptions, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak will surpass all previous death tolls. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted that the epidemic’s current path risks exceeding the devastating 2014–2016 West African outbreak, which claimed more than 11,000 lives.

According to official figures through August 7, the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has resulted in 1,916 fatalities and confirmed 4,209 cases. This marks an increase of 29 deaths compared to the 1,887 reported in the previous update. Health authorities also reported 595 patients currently receiving treatment in isolation, while 828 individuals have recovered from the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak.

Chad’s health authorities have confirmed that an acute waterborne health emergency has resulted in 13 deaths since official public declarations were made late last month. Updated surveillance data from the Ministry of Public Health of Chad reveal that epidemiological monitoring indicates a cholera outbreak has claimed 13 lives, raising the total confirmed and suspected cases to 239 across the country. The official statistics show a nationwide case fatality rate of 5.4 percent, which significantly surpasses international public health standards for managing emergency outbreaks.

In 2022, obesity was associated with 9,509 fatalities in Belgium, accounting for 8.2 percent of the country’s overall death toll, according to fresh data from the Belgian public health institute Sciensano. This marks the first occasion on which public health researchers in Belgium have systematically measured deaths directly linked to a high body mass index (BMI). The report indicates that weight-related health issues caused more than one death every hour across the nation. The data also show that excess BMI led to over 150,000 years of life lost across all age groups within a single year.