Health

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has become Congo’s largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic on record. It is also the world’s second-largest recorded Ebola outbreak, behind the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa. Ituri province remains the main center of transmission. The province accounts for about 85% of confirmed cases and 88% of reported deaths, making it the most heavily affected area in the current public health emergency.

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The European Commission has expanded its Ebola response with a €2.1 million purchase of PCR tests for the Bundibugyo virus outbreak. The agreement covers open-platform tests that laboratories can use with existing systems. Shipments are due to start in August as health teams confront a large outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and affecting parts of the wider region.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo recorded 26,064,143 malaria cases in 2025. The country also reported 29,938 deaths linked to the disease during the year. Guy Esebe Dembo, deputy director of the National Malaria Control Programme, announced the figures during a campaign launch in Ituri province. Dembo said malaria remains the country’s main public health challenge. The new totals confirm a heavy disease burden across one of Africa’s most malaria-affected countries.

DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed 1,916 people and produced 4,209 confirmed cases, according to official data through Aug. 7. That raises the death toll 29 above the 1,887 figure reported in the earlier update. Health authorities also counted 595 patients receiving care in isolation. Another 828 people have recovered from the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak.

Obesity was linked to 9,509 deaths in Belgium during 2022, representing 8.2 percent of total national mortality, according to new data from the Belgian public health institute Sciensano. Marking the first time public health researchers in the country have systematically quantified mortality directly attributable to an elevated body mass index (BMI), the report reveals that weight-related complications caused more than one death per hour nationwide. The statistical findings also show that high BMI resulted in over 150,000 lost years of life across all demographic groups in a single year.

The two patients developed symptoms before the voluntary iceberg lettuce recall announced on July 17. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized the deaths in an Aug. 3 update. It described both as cyclosporiasis-related deaths involving people with underlying health problems. State and federal totals differ because agencies use separate reporting methods. Michigan’s count includes all cases recorded during its investigation, while federal figures generally focus on laboratory-confirmed infections.

The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has become the country’s largest recorded epidemic. Health authorities counted 3,605 confirmed cases through July 30, including 1,587 deaths. The case fatality rate stood at 44%. Teams logged 567 infections and 296 deaths during the latest full reporting week. Those figures marked the highest weekly totals since the outbreak began. The surge placed further pressure on surveillance, treatment and community response operations.