DRC Ebola outbreak deaths have reached at least 177, with nearly 750 suspected cases reported in the country’s east, the World Health Organisation said.
The outbreak has hit Ituri and North Kivu provinces hardest, spreading from rural areas to Bunia and Goma.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, whose capital is Kinshasa, sits in Central Africa. Uganda has also recorded five confirmed cases and two deaths.
WHO raised the risk level to “very high” in DRC and “high” across the region. It said global risk remains low.
Local authorities in Ituri restricted public gatherings and banned wakes after protesters set fire to part of an Ebola treatment centre.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said building trust in affected communities remains critical to the response.
