Get the app

How bad is the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Congo's Ebola outbreak is now the biggest the country has ever faced, and it has crossed into three other African countries. The strain behind it has no approved vaccine or treatment, which makes each new case harder to contain.

Published 22 Oct 2026 Updated 23 Oct 2026 By Implica 24 sources 9 min read

THE SHORT ANSWER

It is the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak Congo has recorded, and the second largest in the world. Government figures to 16 October show 9,415 confirmed cases and 4,536 deaths since May, across eight provinces and 66 health zones. The Bundibugyo strain behind it has no approved vaccine or treatment. The virus has also reached Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention counts about 4,700 deaths in all. Only the 2014-2016 West African outbreak was bigger, with over 28,600 cases.

What happened

On 18 October, Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research confirmed Ebola in an eighth province, Nord-Ubangi, in the north. Two men in their 20s fell ill in the Wapinda health zone, and one died. The province borders the Central African Republic, which has reported no confirmed cases. The latest situation report recorded 67 new cases and 26 new deaths in the 24 hours to 16 October. Ituri province, in the east, had 44 of those new cases and holds more than 73 percent of all confirmed cases.

On 20 October, Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case in more than a decade, in the capital, Abuja. The patient is a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman who is married to a Swiss diplomat. She arrived from Uganda in early October, fell ill on 7 October and was admitted to a private hospital on 11 October. Health workers are tracing 44 contacts. Uganda has said she had travelled to eastern Congo. Switzerland says she and her husband did not. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has no confirmed information that she went to Congo, and investigators are still working out where she was infected. Kenya, meanwhile, had confirmed nine cases by 20 October, one of them fatal.

Money is also a problem. On 14 October, Africa CDC, the public health agency of the African Union, said it could trace only slightly more than $200 million of the $962 million that donors reported sending to implementing partners. It has called an emergency virtual meeting of African health ministers for 28 October.

Why it matters

With no approved vaccine or treatment for this strain, the response rests on finding patients early, isolating them and tracing everyone they met. That is slow, labour-intensive work, and it is being done in conflict-hit areas with stretched staff. The WHO has called this the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record and has said it is on track to pass the deaths of the 2014-2016 West African epidemic, which killed about 11,000 people. The WHO's regional director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, said pockets of Ebola are "generally going down" but that "geographically it's spreading out".

  • For people in affected communities, Janabi said one of the biggest challenges is persuading sick people to seek care, and some deaths happen in communities rather than in health facilities.
  • For frontline health workers, Earlier reports describe new hot spots in North Kivu short of staff and supplies, and a health workers' strike in late summer. Responders in Beni have received Ervebo vaccine doses.
  • For neighbouring countries, Nord-Ubangi borders the Central African Republic, where armed violence has displaced thousands and poor roads limit access. Kenya is monitoring contacts, and Nigeria has put its hospitals on high alert.
  • For donors and agencies, Of $3.045 billion pledged, $962.66 million, or 31.6 percent, had been disbursed by mid-October, and Africa CDC says much of it cannot be traced to the front line.

The background: a rare Ebola strain in a region that has fought the disease before

Where Ebola came from

Ebola was first identified in 1976, in two separate outbreaks. One ran from June to November in Nzara, in what is now South Sudan, and infected 284 people. The other began on 26 August in Yambuku, a village in what was then Zaire and is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the Ebola River that gave the disease its name. Outbreaks have occurred from time to time in tropical Africa since. Among them was a 1995 outbreak in Zaire that infected 315 people and killed 254.

The virus behind this year's outbreak is Bundibugyo, one of the rarer species. It was first seen in August 2007 in Bundibugyo District, western Uganda, and that outbreak was declared over in February 2008. A second, in Congo in 2012, ended with 77 cases and 36 deaths. Its first case, a hunter, is believed to have been infected by handling an antelope carcass.

West Africa, 2014 to 2016

In March 2014 the WHO reported a major Ebola outbreak in Guinea. Researchers traced it to a one-year-old child who died in December 2013. It spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone and became the largest outbreak ever, infecting over 28,600 people and killing more than 11,000. The virus also reached Nigeria by plane, arriving in Lagos. Nigeria recorded 20 cases and was declared clear after three months. Its response, built on fast isolation and contact tracing, is still cited as a model.

Africa CDC was launched in January 2017. The agency was set up to coordinate African Union members against disease threats, and the West African epidemic sped up its creation.

Congo's earlier big outbreak, 2018 to 2020

On 1 August 2018, Congo declared an outbreak in North Kivu province. It was the first Ebola outbreak in a military conflict zone, with thousands of refugees in the area. At the time there were about 70 armed groups in the region. The outbreak reached Ituri province within two weeks, and in July 2019 it reached Goma, a city of 2 million people with an international airport. Over almost two years it caused 3,470 cases and 2,280 deaths.

That outbreak was caused by a different species, Zaire ebolavirus, and a vaccine was available. Even so, control relied heavily on finding and isolating cases and tracing contacts. Surveys in North Kivu and Ituri found mistrust of the response, and delays in seeking care were common because early cases resembled malaria, flu or typhoid. The vaccine used then, rVSV-ZEBOV, was approved in the United States in December 2019.

The 2026 outbreak takes hold

On 15 May 2026, Congo declared its 17th Ebola epidemic, in Ituri province. Two days later the WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, its formal international emergency designation. The outbreak may have started months before it was declared. Uganda reported 20 cases in May and June, mostly imported from Congo, and the WHO declared it Ebola-free in August.

The case count climbed quickly. A doctor infected while helping fight the outbreak was flown to France and recovered. By 18 August there were more than 5,000 cases, and the WHO said the epidemic was spreading three times faster than the deadliest outbreak on record. On 28 August Congo began vaccinating health workers with Ervebo, even though no vaccine is approved for this strain. The reports so far do not say how the two fit together. By that point 60 health zones were affected. Cases passed 6,000 on 1 September, with 2,911 deaths, and 7,000 on 11 September, when a case appeared in South Ubangi province, far from the epicentre. Donors pledged nearly $3 billion in all, including about $700 million at a meeting in New York on 23 September.

October: across borders

On 6 October, Kenya confirmed its first case, a traveller from Congo who passed airport screening and died in a Nairobi hospital. A day later, Congo's total passed 8,000, and reports said most new infections were not linked to known contacts. By 13 October the government count stood at 9,066 cases and 4,381 deaths, passing the 2018-2020 epidemic in both measures. Kenya's second case, a family member of the first patient, fell ill while already in quarantine. The eighth province followed on 18 October, and Nigeria's case on 20 October. That made four countries affected: Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.

GOOD TO KNOW

Congo's 2018 to 2020 outbreak, the country's previous worst, recorded 3,470 cases over almost two years. The current one had passed 5,000 by 18 August, about three months after it was declared.

Why does the Bundibugyo strain make this outbreak harder?

Bundibugyo kills about half of those it infects, and Xinhua put the case fatality rate in Congo at 48.2 percent. It has no approved vaccine or treatment, so doctors rely on supportive care. Bleeding, a well-known sign of Ebola, occurred in only about 10 percent of cases in 2026, according to Wikipedia. That makes the disease hard to diagnose from symptoms alone and makes it less likely that people are isolated or taken to hospital, which helps the virus spread.

Early Ebola symptoms can look like malaria. Nigeria's patient was first treated for malaria-like symptoms and was tested for Ebola on 19 October, eight days after she was admitted to hospital. That fits the pattern, though it is our reading and not a finding in the reports. Laboratory studies suggest Bundibugyo reproduces more slowly than the more common Zaire species, which may explain its lower fatality rate.

Why does contact tracing matter so much?

Between people, Ebola spreads only through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of someone who already has symptoms. Contact tracing means finding everyone who had close contact with a patient and monitoring them for 21 days. Anyone who falls ill is isolated at once. Without a vaccine for this strain, tracing is the main way to cut chains of infection.

The system is under strain. Reports in early October said most new infections in Congo were not linked to known contacts. Smaller countries show how it should work: Kenya says 134 of its 135 identified contacts are traced and in quarantine, and Nigeria is following 44 contacts, including airline passengers, which makes its job harder.

Timeline: 1976 to today

FIRST OUTBREAKS

  1. Ebola is identified in two outbreaks, one in Nzara in what is now South Sudan and one in Yambuku, in what is now Congo.

  2. Bundibugyo virus is first seen in Bundibugyo District, western Uganda.

  3. A second Bundibugyo outbreak is reported in Congo, ending with 77 cases and 36 deaths.

WEST AFRICA AND KIVU

  1. The WHO reports a major outbreak in Guinea that grows into the largest on record, with over 28,600 cases.

  2. Africa CDC is officially launched, after the West African epidemic sped up its creation.

  3. Congo declares an outbreak in North Kivu, the first in a military conflict zone.

  4. The Kivu epidemic ends after 3,470 cases and 2,280 deaths.

THE 2026 OUTBREAK

  1. Congo declares its 17th Ebola epidemic, caused by Bundibugyo virus, in Ituri province.

  2. The WHO declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

  3. The WHO declares Uganda Ebola-free after 20 cases in May and June.

  4. Cases top 5,000, and the WHO warns of spread three times faster than the deadliest outbreak on record.

  5. Health workers receive the first Ervebo doses as the outbreak reaches 60 health zones.

  6. Congo reports more than 6,000 confirmed cases and 2,911 deaths.

  7. Cases pass 7,000, with a new case in South Ubangi province, far from the epicentre.

SPREAD ABROAD

  1. Kenya confirms its first Ebola case, a traveller from Congo who dies in Nairobi.

  2. Congo passes 8,000 cases as new hot spots in North Kivu run short of staff and supplies.

  3. Government data show 9,066 cases and 4,381 deaths, making this Congo's largest and deadliest outbreak.

  4. Africa CDC says about $700 million of response funding cannot be traced, and Kenya confirms a second case.

  5. Nord-Ubangi becomes the eighth affected province, bringing totals to 9,415 cases and 4,536 deaths.

  6. Nigeria confirms a case in Abuja in a woman who arrived from Uganda, with 44 contacts under tracing.

  7. Switzerland says the patient did not travel to Congo, and the outbreak is now confirmed in four countries with about 4,700 deaths.

What to watch next

  • Where Nigeria's patient caught it. The WHO and Africa CDC are investigating whether she crossed paths with Kenya's first patient, since both left Entebbe airport on 3 October, and the WHO says the timing of her symptoms must be compared.
  • Nigeria's 44 contacts. Health workers are still tracing contacts, including airline passengers, and some high-risk people have been quarantined in a facility.
  • Africa CDC's ministers' meeting. An extraordinary virtual meeting of African health ministers is scheduled for 28 October to strengthen the continental response.
  • Whether the money can be traced. Africa CDC has pressed for months for every dollar to be traceable from donor to community, and fewer than 30 percent of partners took part in the latest check.

Sources

How this article was made: Implica's editorial system wrote it from the news reports above, with the background drawn from Wikipedia: Ebola, Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Kivu Ebola epidemic, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The short version of stories
like this, every day.

Each story takes a minute to read. Ask a question or tap a name whenever you want to go deeper. Free to download.

DOWNLOAD ON THEApp Store GET IT ONGoogle Play