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official / UN wire (UN News — WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Janet Diaz to reporters in Geneva, Tue Sep 29 2026) · Anadolu Agency triangulation (counts as of Sep 26) · supersedes the boarded DON618 card

WHO: DRC Bundibugyo Ebola past 8,000 cases — 3,901 dead, oxygen and early care still failing

Origin Lane: fractureDemocratic Republic of the Congo — 63 health zones / 7 provinces · Ituri / Bunia treatment centres · hotspots Mandima, Nia Nia, MongbwaluBy the Doom Signals desk

The World Health Organization’s Dr Janet Diaz told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that confirmed Bundibugyo Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 8,000 for the first time — 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths, a case fatality rate above 48 percent across 63 health zones in seven provinces — and that many patients are still dying at home because they cannot reach care in time, while oxygen remains unavailable or unreliable in many facilities.

Geneva brief (Diaz, Tue Sep 29)
Confirmed cases have passed 8,000 for the first time since the outbreak began, according to the Congolese authorities
Count (as of Sep 26, WHO via Anadolu)
8,067 confirmed cases · 3,901 deaths · 2,070 recoveries · CFR more than 48%
Footprint
63 health zones in seven of the DRC’s 26 provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Tshopo, Bas-Uele, Sud-Ubangi
Trend (Diaz, via Anadolu)
Incident cases −20.3% and deaths −24.2% over the past two 14-day periods · Ituri declining from a mid-August peak but transmission still elevated · Mandima, Nia Nia and Mongbwalu among hotspots showing worsening trends
Care access (Diaz)
“Many people are still dying at home or in their communities because they are unable to reach health facilities on time”
Oxygen (UN News)
Unavailable or unreliable in many health facilities, especially in emergency settings
Beds (UN News)
From a handful at the start to more than 1,600 beds across 50 treatment centres in the seven provinces · plans for over 2,000 · nearly 400 health workers trained, hub in Bunia
Vaccine
No approved vaccine against Bundibugyo; trials underway · WHO allocated 20,000 Ervebo (Zaire) doses to a research vaccination programme in Ituri
Delta vs boarded DON618
7,890 confirmed / 3,799 deaths (as of 23 Sep) → 8,067 / 3,901 (as of Sep 26)
Supersedes
The DON618 card — off the board; its page stays live in the archive
Live later
Next WHO DON or DRC Ministry / INSP official count · any confirmed cross-border case · Ervebo research readouts → fracture HUD — no invented export case or death toll

Yet in this outbreak, many people are still dying at home or in their communities because they are unable to reach health facilities on time.

Dr Janet Diaz, WHO Health Emergencies Programme — UN News, Geneva, 29 Sep 2026

Eight thousand is now the official floor. At a Geneva briefing on Tuesday, Dr Janet Diaz of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme said confirmed Bundibugyo Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 8,000 for the first time, according to Congolese authorities — 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths, a case fatality rate above 48 percent, across 63 health zones in seven provinces. Anadolu Agency, carrying the same briefing, stamps the count as of September 26 and adds 2,070 recoveries.

Diaz said transmission is beginning to fall in some areas but the number of cases remains high. Over the past two fourteen-day periods, incident cases fell 20.3 percent and deaths 24.2 percent, while parts of Ituri — Mandima, Nia Nia and Mongbwalu among them — still show worsening hotspot trends. She had just returned from treatment centres in Bunia. Many people are still dying at home because they cannot reach facilities in time, and oxygen remains unavailable or unreliable in many emergency settings, even as bed capacity has grown to more than 1,600 across fifty centres, with plans past 2,000.

There is still no approved vaccine against Bundibugyo; WHO last week allocated 20,000 Ervebo doses to a research vaccination programme in Ituri. This supersedes the boarded DON618 card (7,890 / 3,799 as of September 23); that page stays live in the archive. The next WHO Disease Outbreak News and any confirmed cross-border case go to the HUD.

Why it matters

Another step past the last Disease Outbreak News: more than eight thousand confirmed, thirty-nine hundred dead, and the WHO official who walked the Bunia wards says people are still dying at home while oxygen fails. A decline in some fourteen-day windows sits next to an outbreak that just crossed a new threshold. Official Geneva count — not a claim that the virus has crossed a border.

Sources

Primary + secondary attribution as listed.

Daily board

More: Disease outbreaks

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