JONATHAN M. METSCH, Dr.P.H. – Tracking Emerging Public Health Challenges – August 16, 2026 – EBOLA
Congo’s public health institute said on Sunday that confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 new cases detected in the previous 24 hours.
West Africa’s 2014-16 Ebola outbreak resulted in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).”
“Thomas Parisch, a public health specialist recently deployed to DRC with Médecins Sans Frontières, said: “Normally, as an outbreak progresses, the case fatality ratio should fall as contact tracing improves and patients are identified and treated earlier.
“Instead, we’re still seeing many cases detected very late, when treatment is less likely to succeed, with many identified only after they die in the community.”” (1)
1.Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo now deadliest in country’s history, by Nadeem Badshah, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/17/ebola-outbreak-drc-democratic-republic-of-congo-deadliest-in-history
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai