BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The number of confirmed cases of Ebola virus in Congo has surged past 8,000, as the country runs out of health workers to contain the deadly disease.
Congo announced an outbreak on May 15, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine, and has struggled to contain it.
Latest data from Congo's health ministry showed that 8,067 cases have been confirmed, with 3,901 deaths as of Sept. 26 across 63 health zones in seven of the country's 26 provinces, with a fatality rate of more than 48%.
“The continuously high crude case fatality ratio, and especially the continuously high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care,” the World Health Organization said in its latest report.
Last week, the WHO said that Congo is running out of health workers to contain the disease. Health workers have complained about delayed or missing payments, triggering several strikes despite the delicate nature of the outbreak. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 health workers have died since the outbreak was announced.
Some areas have shown signs of improvement, with a fall in confirmed cases, including in Ituri province and Haut-Uele, but officials say the disease is spreading further in other areas, expanding its geographical reach.
According to data from the Africa CDC, the current outbreak has outpaced the 2-year-long West Africa regional outbreak in terms of spread in the same time. By Week 19, the regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016 recorded 3,781 cases, while the current outbreak recorded 7,840. The WHO said it is on track to surpass the regional outbreak, which killed 11,000 people.
Containment efforts have been hamstrung by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements.
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One-year-old Kavugho Mayolo Latifa, whose mother died of Ebola, is carried by her sister Leandrine Kavira, after recovering from the virus, during a release ceremony inside a treatment center in Beni, North Kivu province, eastern Congo, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sebastien Kitsa Musayi)
A healthcare worker walks inside a treatment center for Ebola patients in Beni, North Kivu province, eastern Congo, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sebastien Kitsa Musayi)
A healthcare worker is disinfected by his colleague inside a treatment center for Ebola patients in Beni, North Kivu province, eastern Congo, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sebastien Kitsa Musayi)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s round-the-clock bombardment of targets in Ukraine killed at least three civilians and wounded 41 others, officials said Monday, while Ukraine’s army claimed more successes in a recent push on the front line.
The attacks followed a week of diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to get traction for negotiations on ending Moscow’s invasion that began 4½ years ago.
Battlefield positions have changed little since last year, in part because swarms of drones severely restrict troop movements, but Kyiv’s forces launched a recent offensive, codenamed Operation Vivaldi, on part of the 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line.
Ukraine’s Third Army Corps said Monday it had recaptured another 51 square kilometers (20 square miles) from the Russians, bringing the total to 176 square kilometers (68 square miles) since the offensive began several months ago.
The corps said that in order to break through Russian defenses, it converted Soviet-era BTR-60 armored personnel carriers into kamikaze vehicles that blew up the strongest Russian fortifications. The operation has also used ground robots to attack Russian positions.
The claimed breakthroughs came in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, which the bigger Russian army has been trying in vain to conquer.
Russian officials made no immediate comment on the Ukrainian claim.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said that Russian troops captured the villages of Novovodiane in the Donetsk region and Ulanove in the northern Sumy region.
It was not possible to independently verify the claims.
The ceaseless Russian drone attacks on cities and towns aim to wear down Ukraine’s resistance and cripple the Ukrainian economy.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces struck two data centers in Kyiv, as well as gas stations in the Ukrainian capital. A distribution hub belonging to Nova Poshta postal service was struck in the southern city of Odesa, it said.
The Russian military also hit a cargo ship in the Black Sea and another one in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, the ministry said. The strikes aim to curb Ukraine’s grain exports, though they may also create food shortages in countries that rely on Ukrainian imports.
The Russian aerial attacks regularly hit civilian areas. Moscow claims it targets only military-related sites.
Russian drone attacks on the Kyiv region killed three people and wounded eight, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.
A Russian strike on a nine-story apartment building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv wounded 38 people, including 10 children, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Four people, including two teenage girls, were hurt when a Russian drone struck a residential area in northern Ukraine’s Chernihiv region on Sunday evening, said Viacheslav Chaus, head of the regional military administration.
Ukrainian long-range drones have targeted fuel depots and industrial plants deep inside Russia that are a mainstay of Moscow’s economy and war effort.
Ukrainian drone attacks overnight started fires at three infrastructure facilities in Russia’s Krasnodar region, local emergency officials said Monday, without identifying the locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 254 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A man walks at the central market damaged in a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Saturday, Sept.26, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
