CDC MMWR Report Finds DRC Ebola Response Missing Nearly All Operational Targets

A CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 'Notes from the Field' published 1 September 2026, using data through mid-August, found the DRC's Bundibugyo virus response falling short of nearly every operational benchmark: contact tracing identified only 10.6 contacts per case versus a target of 20 or more, with just 15-20% of new cases coming from already-known contact lists; laboratory testing was completed for only 72% of suspected-case alerts against a 90% target; an estimated 59% of confirmed deaths occurred outside treatment units, indicating insufficient isolation capacity; and fewer than half of affected health zones (49%) had functioning safe-burial teams versus a 100% target. As of the mid-August data cutoff, the report recorded 5,458 confirmed cases and 2,606 deaths (48% case fatality rate), already the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. CDC concluded that persistent gaps in surveillance, case detection, contact tracing, and funeral management are allowing the epidemic to keep spreading across DRC's six affected provinces.