The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is entering its third month as the second-deadliest in history and the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC. As of yesterday, DRC officials reported 3,695 cases and 1,623 deaths. 

The deadliest outbreak in history remains the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which resulted in more than 11,000 deaths. The current outbreak is caused by a strain of Ebola virus, Bundibugyo, that has only caused three outbreaks in history and has no targeted therapeutics or vaccines. 

In a new Disease Outbreak News report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the agency says the outbreak is intensifying, and the crude case fatality ratio (CFR) now stands at 44%. Transmission rates are increasing, and in the last week of July, the highest weekly number of reported cases (567) and deaths (296) to date were recorded, the WHO said. There have been 151 cases among healthcare workers, including 44 deaths (CFR 29%).

Outbreak affecting maternal mortality rates 

Ituri remains the most affected province, accounting for 88% of all confirmed cases and 82.6% of reported deaths nationwide. About 75.5% of case contacts are under active follow-up in Ituri. 

“A substantial scaling up of response activities is needed to get ahead of the outbreak,” the WHO warned. 

Today the Associated Press reported an increased maternal mortality rate in the outbreak regions, as women are skipping prenatal care and births attended to by medical professionals because of fears of contracting Ebola in medical centers. 

Noemi Dalmonte, deputy country representative of the United Nations Population Fund inthe DRC, told the AP that an average of six women a week were dying due to childbirth complications, double last year’s average. 

A national retrospective cohort study of more than 2.5 million children found no association between receiving the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine before age 2 years and having an autism diagnosis. 

“These results reinforce existing evidence supporting the safety of MMR vaccination,” wrote the authors, from the University of Washington. 

Some people worry that MMR vaccines cause autism, despite a lack of evidence supporting this theory. This paper is the latest to examine the MMR vaccine and autism by looking at the timing of the vaccine. 

Using the Cosmos electronic health record database, researchers looked at the records of more than 2.5 million children who had linked parent information from January 2015 through December 2024. The scientists followed the children until age 8 or their last doctor’s appointment before the study end date. 

Receiving the first MMR vaccine dose from ages 11.5 to 24 months was not associated with an increased likelihood of having an autism diagnosis. 

Kennedy acknowledges efficacy of MMR vaccine

It’s been a record-breaking year in the United States for measles, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting 2,371 cases this year, with 93% of these infections occurring in unvaccinated people. This is the highest number of measles cases since 1991. 

These results reinforce existing evidence supporting the safety of MMR vaccination.

In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash yesterday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he is not responsible for the ongoing measles outbreak, despite years of saying childhood vaccines cause autism. “I’ve never questioned the efficacy of the MMR vaccine,” he said. 

Kennedy also encouraged parents to vaccinate their children. “A measles vaccine is effective,” he said. “It stops measles in about 97% of the cases.”