The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to infect those in Ituri province at an alarming rate, according to a new report published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) yesterday. According to the report, the DRC has 7,773 confirmed cases, including 3,759 deaths, with 40 new confirmed cases and 27 deaths reported during a 48-hour period earlier this week. 

“Ituri province remains the most affected, with 5,966 cases, including 2,737 deaths, reported from 28 of 36 health zones,” the ECDC wrote. “In total, 84.5% of identified case contacts are under follow-up in the affected provinces.”

Without a high rate of case contact follow-up, the outbreak will continue to ravage the region, experts have warned, with new, unknown transmission chains accounting for new cases. 

Today the World Health Organization (WHO) published an account of a family’s resistance to safe burial techniques in the DRC, with the family refusing a safe and dignified burial for more than 24 hours because they did not want a body bag used.

Experts in risk communication and community engagement were called in, and eventually a safe burial took place. The WHO said acts of community engagement and education are the best tools currently used to stop this outbreak. 

• The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating a localized outbreak of flea-borne typhus in the Wilshire Center neighborhood of  Los Angeles, the department said yesterday in a press release. Rates of the disease have increased in the city in recent years, with a total of 220 cases documented last year, a record high. The current outbreak includes seven symptomatic case-patients, six of whom were hospitalized. So far this year the county has tracked 109 cases. “As flea-borne typhus cases continue to increase across Los Angeles County, preventing exposure to fleas on free roaming animals and wildlife is more important than ever,” said Muntu Davis, MD, MPH, Los Angeles County Health Officer. “Community members can help protect themselves and their neighbors by keeping pets on flea control year-round, rodent proofing their homes and making sure wildlife cannot live in or around their homes. Simple steps can prevent serious illness.”
• Last week there were two possible measles exposures at Philadelphia International Airport. The exposures come on the heels of a reported exposure last week at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia  and highlight high virus activity in the state with the nation’s largest measles outbreak. Today the state will likely top 800 cases, with roughly 100 new cases reported each week, and four measles-associated deaths reported this year. 
• The Hilton Garden Inn North Shore/Evanston, near Chicago, has been linked to two recent Legionnaires’ disease cases in visitors who reported using the hotel’s hot tub and pool during their stay. The case-patients stayed at the hotel in August, and the hotels pools and hot tubs have been closed since early September. “The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) conducted water sampling and an environmental investigation of the hotel on September 8, 2026,” Evanston city officials said in a statement. “Both confirmed cases reported being in the pool and hot tub areas in August 2026, and those areas have been closed since September 2, 2026.” Water samples from other areas of the hotel did not detect Legionella bacteria, the statement said.