Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced on Monday that the cumulative number of confirmed Ebola cases has reached 9,964, with 4,841 recorded deaths, giving a case‑fatality rate of 48.6 percent.

The epidemic, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, was declared on 15 May and has now affected 66 health zones across eight of the country’s 26 provinces.

Unlike the more common Zaire strain, the Bundibugyo virus currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, complicating containment measures.

The outbreak has spread beyond the DRC, reaching Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and, through an imported case, France, making it the most geographically widespread Ebola event recorded to date.

World Health Organization Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned a recent attack that killed a nurse in Tshopo Province and urged that health workers be protected at all times.

Residents in the area accused the health team of contaminating a local water source to spread Ebola; local health and administrative officials rejected the claim as rumours and misinformation.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention described the outbreak as the largest and deadliest ever recorded in the DRC and the second‑largest Ebola outbreak globally, after the 2014‑2016 West Africa epidemic.