DR Congo has confirmed 8,067 Ebola cases and 3,901 deaths as violence and insecurity in the Ituri Province disrupt humanitarian efforts, displacing thousands of individuals.

According to health authority data published on Monday, the latest alert on Ebola cases in the country has surpassed 8,000 for the first time since the current outbreak began, with its current fatality rate at 48.4 per cent.

Last Sunday, following reports of several insecurity incidents, families fled the Kigonze displacement camp in Bunia, northeast Ituri province.

Authorities infiltrated an area belonging to non-state armed groups to search for weapons after gunshots were heard. Access to humanitarian aid in Kigonze remains difficult, complicating efforts to prevent and contain the outbreak amid the ongoing conflict.

The UN aid coordination office said the camp hosts nearly 19,000 displaced individuals and that residents faced “armed violence, threats and intimidation against civilians, arrests, forced displacement and the destruction of shelters”.

United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the DRC, Damien Mama, said that many families had left the camp to seek refuge with relatives in other communities.

Humanitarian workers are now struggling to assess needs, distribute essential assistance and maintain protection services.

Mr Mama stressed that the site should serve as a safe place for people, saying families “who have already lost everything” deserve safety and dignity where they have found refuge. He also called for the protection of civilians and safe, unimpeded humanitarian access, while reaffirming the humanitarian community’s support for the Congolese authorities.

The movement of families has also raised serious public health concerns, as Kigonze is one of the sites covered by the ongoing Ebola response.

The UN raised concerns that the sudden departure of thousands of displaced people, along with restricted access to the site, could disrupt disease surveillance, particularly contact tracing, as well as the continuity of essential services and outbreak control operations.

On Monday, more than 1.1 million people were displaced by conflict and violence across Ituri province, including more than 373,000 living in displacement sites.

The World Health Organisation reported that the security situation in the state is complicating the Ebola response, citing population displacement and limited access to basic services.

The agency noted that these constraints continue to undermine surveillance, case detection, contact tracing, infection prevention and control measures, and timely access to appropriate healthcare, limiting the response’s overall effectiveness.

However, it said Ituri is the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak, but it continues to report a gradual decline in cases compared with the peak observed in mid-August, although transmission remains high.

In contrast, cases have risen substantially in the neighbouring North Kivu province, reaching their highest level on record in mid-September before declining in the most recent reporting days.

The Bundibugyo virus causes the Ebola outbreak, and the DR Congo has recorded the largest and deadliest outbreak, surpassing the 2018–2020 emergency.

The country’s outbreak is second only to the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.