The Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded 10,668 confirmed cases of Ebola and 5,198 deaths, the World Health Organization has said, making the outbreak the largest ever recorded in the country.

The figures, published in the WHO’s Disease Outbreak News report on 6 November and covering the position as of 3 November, give a case fatality ratio of 48.7 per cent. The WHO said 2,881 people had recovered. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, began on 15 May 2026 and has now affected 67 health zones across eight provinces, with active transmission continuing in 51 of those zones.

The latest update shows transmission is still intense. Since the WHO’s previous update on 23 October, the country has reported 964 new confirmed cases, including 511 deaths. In the three weeks leading up to 3 November, there were 1,463 new confirmed cases, most of them in the two worst-affected provinces.

Ituri province remains the epicentre, with 7,485 cases and 3,532 deaths, followed by North Kivu, which has reported 2,593 cases and 1,422 deaths. The WHO said that although some areas had recorded a slight decline in cases, sustained and high-level transmission continued across the country.

The agency raised particular concern about where people are dying. Of the 512 deaths reported since 21 October, 335 happened in communities and 177 in treatment centres. The WHO said the high share of deaths outside treatment centres, especially among young children, pointed to continuing problems with early detection and timely access to appropriate care.

Five countries have now reported cases in this outbreak: DR Congo, France, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. France and Uganda have brought their outbreaks under control since August, while Kenya and Nigeria are still responding. The WHO said no new cases had been reported in Kenya or Nigeria since its previous update on 23 October.

Nigeria’s single confirmed case was an imported infection identified in the Federal Capital Territory on 20 October. The patient was flown to Switzerland on 26 October and remains in isolation receiving care in Geneva. As of 3 November, 62 contacts had been identified in Nigeria, six of whom had completed the 21-day follow-up period, while 56 were still being monitored, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

The WHO also disclosed that Switzerland and the United Kingdom had medically evacuated confirmed cases involving their citizens, although no new country had reported cases since the previous update. It advised against imposing travel or trade restrictions on countries experiencing or responding to the outbreak, based on the information currently available.

There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease, so the response depends on spotting cases early, isolating patients, providing medical care, tracing contacts, carrying out safe burials and working with communities. The virus spreads through direct contact with the blood, secretions or other body fluids of an infected person, and its incubation period is between two and 21 days.

Health officials face a difficult task in the worst-affected areas, where conflict, displacement and mistrust of health workers have hampered the response. The WHO said sustained regional preparedness, including cross-border surveillance, monitoring at points of entry, early case detection and coordinated response measures, remained essential while transmission continued at such a high level.