Plague in DR Congo
From 2019 to 2025, DR Congo reported 1,893 lab-confirmed human plague cases and 101 deaths to the World Health Organization. In 2025: 54 confirmed, 1 deaths.
Confirmed cases by year
- Suspected cases, 2019–2025
- 1,893
- Lab-confirmed
- 1,893
- Probable
- Not determined
- Deaths
- 101
Year by year
| Year | Suspected | Confirmed | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 48 | 48 | 8 |
| 2020 | 451 | 451 | 31 |
| 2021 | 138 | 138 | 14 |
| 2022 | 641 | 641 | 16 |
| 2023 | 114 | 114 | 18 |
| 2024 | 447 | 447 | 13 |
| 2025 | 54 | 54 | 1 |
"Suspected" includes probable and confirmed cases. WHO counts deaths among all suspected cases.
What WHO says about DR Congo
- DR Congo reported identical suspected and confirmed counts every year. WHO says this should not be read as proof that every suspected case was lab-confirmed.
- The main plague area is the Ituri highlands in the north-east, where outbreaks have been documented since 1928.
- DR Congo did not report cases by clinical form.