WHO Chief Tedros: DRC Ebola Epidemic 'Continues to Grow and Continues to Kill' Despite Signs of Progress

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Wednesday, 16 September 2026, that the response effort is showing 'encouraging signs' and 'better cooperation' from authorities, but cautioned the fight is 'far from over': 'The area is so vast that it's hard to speak of a single epidemic... But make no mistake, the epidemic continues to grow and continues to kill.' At the time of the briefing the outbreak stood at roughly 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths across seven DRC provinces — the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, at roughly one-quarter the size of the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic. Tedros noted transmission is declining in Ituri, the epicenter, and South Kivu has recorded no new case since May, but weekly cases in North Kivu have doubled over two weeks, from roughly 100 to over 200. WHO said a Phase 3 randomized clinical trial of Merck's Ervebo vaccine (rVSV-ZEBOV) against Bundibugyo virus is expected to begin within weeks in Ituri, and a separate observational study combining Ervebo with an experimental Sudan-ebolavirus vaccine for frontline workers was set to start later that week or early the following week. WHO said over 3,000 healthcare and frontline workers have now received Ervebo under compassionate use, though its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain remains scientifically unproven.