The World Health Organization has raised its risk assessment for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to "very high" — its most serious national-level designation — after suspected cases nearly tripled in a single week to almost 750, with 177 suspected deaths. The outbreak, confirmed just over a week ago in Ituri province in the country's northeast, is spreading rapidly, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday, describing the situation as "deeply worrisome." The regional risk level remains rated as high, while the global risk is assessed as low.

The current epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rarer variant for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment currently exists. Scientists have, however, identified an antiviral drug called obeldesivir that may help prevent contacts of confirmed cases from developing the disease, and trials are being established in the affected areas. Most cases remain concentrated in Ituri, a province in eastern DRC that borders Uganda, with two cases also reported in Uganda involving Congolese nationals who had crossed the border. Uganda has responded by suspending all cross-border public transport — including buses, ferries, and flights to the DRC — for four weeks, though cargo and food shipments will continue. Kampala has also suspended weekly border markets and restricted large gatherings in high-risk border zones.

The response on the ground in DRC is facing serious obstacles. Treatment centres set up to isolate patients in Ituri remained largely empty in the outbreak's first week, as authorities struggled to triage suspected cases from general hospital populations. On Thursday, a newly established Ebola treatment centre at a hospital in Rwampara was set on fire by a crowd angered at being prevented from retrieving the body of a local man who had died there. Ebola-infected corpses carry an extremely high viral load, making safe and dignified burials a critical but deeply contested part of outbreak control. WHO's representative in the DRC, Dr Anne Ancia, said the attack would "significantly jeopardise" operations in Rwampara, though she hoped the facility could reopen within 24 hours.

The response is further hampered by resource shortfalls linked to aid funding cuts in previous years. Humanitarian organisations working in Ituri say they lack sufficient staff and equipment to mount an adequate response, with contact tracing — a labour-intensive but essential tool for containing Ebola — particularly under-resourced. Despite these challenges, officials offered cautious grounds for optimism: the surge in case numbers may partly reflect improved detection rather than an acceleration of transmission alone, as a falling proportion of samples testing positive suggests broader screening is capturing more mild or suspected cases. "We are running behind, we are not yet under control," Dr Ancia acknowledged, while adding: "I can guarantee you that together, we will manage to get over this outbreak as soon as we can."

Building community trust remains central to containing the outbreak. Authorities in DRC have emphasised that families retain the right to view — but not touch — the bodies of loved ones who have died from Ebola, as the virus remains highly transmissible through contact with corpses. Along the busy DRC–Uganda border, health workers have been deployed at crossing points, but residents say the suspension of markets and restrictions on movement are already threatening their livelihoods, underscoring the difficult balance between public health imperatives and the daily realities of life in one of the world's most fragile regions.