Congo’s Ebola outbreak has passed the grim milestone of 2,000 deaths among confirmed cases, with the disease spreading faster than in any previous outbreak recorded in the country, according to government figures released Tuesday.
Authorities reported 4,381 confirmed cases and 2,011 deaths. Another 704 patients remain hospitalized or in isolation. The figures were released less than three months after officials declared the outbreak on May 15, underscoring the speed at which the crisis has escalated.
The death toll reached 1,000 in roughly nine weeks, but it took only about three more weeks to claim another 1,000 lives. The acceleration reflects the challenges facing health workers trying to reach remote communities and interrupt transmission.
The outbreak is being driven by Bundibugyo virus, a comparatively rare species of ebolavirus for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment exists.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that genomic and epidemiological evidence suggests the virus had been circulating since February, several months before authorities identified the outbreak.
Most cases have been recorded in Ituri province, although infections have also been reported in North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo provinces.
A rare and difficult-to-treat
Bundibugyo virus was first identified during an outbreak in western Uganda in 2007 and was later found in Congo in 2012. The current crisis is just the third known Bundibugyo outbreak and is by far the largest.
The Zaire ebolavirus has caused most major Ebola outbreaks and is covered by licensed vaccines and treatments. Bundibugyo, by contrast, has neither an approved vaccine nor a specific antiviral therapy.
Doctors have therefore depended largely on supportive care, including fluid management, treatment of complications, patient isolation and measures to prevent additional infections.
In some reports, the fatality rate among confirmed cases has climbed into the mid-40% range. Health officials have linked the increase to delayed detection, patients arriving for treatment late and the substantial number of people dying in their communities before receiving medical attention.
Conflict complicates response
Decades of armed conflict, repeated displacement and fragile health infrastructure have made eastern Congo especially difficult for disease-control teams to operate in.
Insecurity, poor roads and interruptions along supply routes have delayed the transport of health workers, medical equipment and laboratory samples. In some communities, residents remain suspicious of health authorities and international responders, influenced by previous violence against health workers and mistrust generated during earlier Ebola campaigns.
That distrust has hindered contact tracing, safe burials and efforts to convince people showing symptoms to seek care.
A substantial share of newly identified patients had not been listed as contacts of known cases, complicating efforts to reconstruct chains of transmission. Many others died in their communities instead of treatment centers, limiting opportunities for early diagnosis and infection-control measures.
Response expands
Congolese authorities have broadened the response with assistance from the WHO, Africa CDC, Medecins Sans Frontieres and other partners.
Response teams have stepped up laboratory testing, increased treatment capacity, expanded contact tracing and reinforced infection-prevention measures. Officials are also seeking to improve diagnostic systems that can distinguish among Ebola species and bring testing closer to affected communities.
WHO and Africa CDC have urged donors and partners to speed up the delivery of funding and medical supplies. Both organizations have emphasized that cooperation from local communities will be essential to ending the outbreak.
Uganda recorded a smaller outbreak linked to the situation in Congo, reporting about 20 confirmed cases and two deaths. Authorities declared that outbreak over in late July after 42 days without a new case, though monitoring along the border remains in place.
General view of Nyamurongo cemetery, located in the Ndibakodu neighborhood, one of the burial sites receiving a large number of people who have died from Ebola virus disease since the beginning of the outbreak, Bunia, DRC, June 13, 2026. (AFP Photo)
Congo’s largest Ebola outbreak
The outbreak is Congo’s 17th since Ebola was first identified in 1976 near the Ebola River.
It has overtaken the country’s previous largest outbreak, which affected North Kivu and Ituri from 2018 to 2020 and resulted in about 3,470 cases and more than 2,200 deaths.
Globally, it is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. The 2013-16 epidemic in West Africa remains the largest, with more than 28,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths reported across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Scientists say the current Bundibugyo outbreak appears to be a distinct zoonotic spillover event. The assessment highlights the continuing possibility of new Ebola strains emerging in places where people come into close contact with wildlife.
Despite the mounting death toll, health authorities say the risk of sustained international transmission remains low. Ebola is transmitted mainly through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, rather than through the air.
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