Health · DRC outbreak · ArchiveEbola Death Toll Surpasses 1,000 in DRC as Africa CDC Battles US Travel RestrictionsAired July 22, 2026 at 10:57 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic0:01Republic of Congo has reached a grim new0:04milestone. More than 1,000 people have0:06now died as the outbreak continues to0:08ravage communities in Eastern DRC,0:11particularly in Ituri province. The0:13death toll keeps climbing even as0:15neighboring Uganda shows what successful0:17containment looks like. Ituri province0:19in Eastern DRC remains the epicenter of0:21this outbreak near the border with0:23Uganda. The virus has spread across0:25communities with limited healthcare0:27infrastructure, making containment a0:29constant challenge for response teams on0:31the ground. Uganda, which saw cases0:33spill across its border, has taken a0:35very different trajectory. On the ground0:37in Ituri province, health workers are0:39fighting an exhausting battle. Each new0:41case means contact tracing, isolation,0:43and burials that must be handled with0:45extreme caution. The virus spreads0:47through bodily fluids, and in densely0:48populated displacement camps,0:50containment is especially difficult. But0:52across the border in Uganda, the picture0:54looks very different. Uganda has now0:56gone three full weeks without reporting0:58a single new Ebola case. The country has1:01also discharged its last known patient,1:04a sign that the outbreak there may be1:05burning out. Africa CDC Director-General1:08Dr. Jean Kaseya has sent a formal letter1:10to US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy1:12Jr. urging the United States to lift its1:14travel restrictions on Uganda. His1:16medical argument is blunt. The1:18restrictions, he says, are1:19disproportionate to the actual risk1:21given Uganda's clear containment prog-1:23The request puts Washington in a1:24familiar position, balancing domestic1:26public health caution against the1:28diplomatic and practical consequences of1:29travel bans. With no new cases in Uganda1:32for 3 weeks and the last patient1:33discharged, the evidence of containment1:35is strong. But the death toll in1:37neighboring DRC continues to mount, and1:39the US may be reluctant to ease1:41restrictions while the regional outbreak1:42remains active. The coming weeks will1:44test whether containment data can1:46outweigh political caution.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗Related coverageBackgroundOct 21 09:53 UTCAbuja Ebola patient in isolation as Nigeria traces 44 contactsBackgroundOct 21 08:18 UTCKenya’s Ebola cases reach nine as first quarantined contacts near release