The Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry expanded Ebola ring vaccination on Monday, extending emergency doses beyond frontline health workers to close contacts in the Bulape outbreak zone in Kasai province. The World Health Organization confirmed the escalation.

Vaccinations for health workers in the epicentre began days earlier, using Merck's Ervebo vaccine from stockpiles managed by Gavi and the International Coordinating Group. Congo has faced repeated outbreaks of the Zaire strain, and health authorities moved quickly to contain transmission before it spread to larger towns.

The health ministry reported additional confirmed cases and several deaths since the outbreak was declared, though full case tallies remained provisional as laboratory confirmation continued. WHO teams supported contact tracing, safe burials and community engagement alongside national responders in Kasai.

The response drew on lessons from Congo's 2018-2020 eastern outbreak, which killed more than 2,000 people and prompted the first large-scale use of ring vaccination. Logistics in remote Kasai posed the central challenge, according to aid agencies including Médecins Sans Frontières and UNICEF, where poor roads and limited cold-chain capacity constrain operations.

A WHO spokesperson said the agency released emergency funds and pre-positioned therapeutics, with further vaccine shipments expected within the week to sustain the ring strategy around confirmed and suspected cases.