The Democratic Republic of Congo is fighting the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in recorded history—and now the second-largest ever. Officially declared on May 15, 2026, the outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, a rare strain for which no licensed vaccine or proven treatment exists. It is the DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak since 1976, though unlike all its major predecessors, this one cannot be countered with any of the medical tools developed over the past decade.
As of August 12, 2026, the DRC had recorded 4,665 confirmed cases and 2,184 confirmed deaths. Including cases in Uganda's capital, Kampala, the combined total stood at 4,686 confirmed cases and 2,186 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The confirmed fatality rate is approximately 46%.
The speed of spread is without precedent. The outbreak surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases within 40 days of response activation. The 2018 DRC outbreak took approximately 235 days to reach the same milestone. Health officials say the current epidemic is spreading five times faster than previous outbreaks did at the same stage. The current outbreak has already surpassed the 2018–2020 epidemic—previously the country's worst, which infected 3,470 people over roughly two years—in a fraction of the time.
Most cases are concentrated in Ituri Province, which accounts for roughly 90% of infections and 80% of deaths. The Bunia–Rwampara–Mongbwalu–Nizi corridor in Ituri is the main axis of spread. The virus has now been confirmed in four other DRC provinces—Haut-Uélé, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Tshopo—as well as in Kampala, according to the CDC.
A strain science knows little about, and medicine cannot yet treat
Bundibugyo virus has caused only two prior outbreaks globally: Uganda in 2007 and the DRC in 2012. It had not been seen for more than a decade before this outbreak began. All of the DRC's major previous outbreaks were caused by the Zaire species, for which vaccines and treatments now exist. Most vaccines developed over the past decade targeted Zaire Ebola and do not cover the Bundibugyo strain.
The virus spread undetected for weeks, possibly months, before the outbreak was formally declared. Early cases were misdiagnosed as peritonitis. Laboratories initially used diagnostic tests designed for the wrong Ebola species, and samples sent to the capital Kinshasa were mishandled. By the time health authorities identified the outbreak, transmission had already taken hold across communities.
The scale of hidden spread remains the central problem. In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that approximately 80% of new infections had emerged outside known transmission chains—meaning the virus was reaching new people faster than health workers could identify and isolate cases.
Contact tracing has improved. The national rate passed 85% for the first time. But sharp regional gaps persist. In Haut-Uélé, the tracing rate stands at only around 58%, no treatment centre meeting required standards yet exists there, and several centres in Ituri are already saturated.
Conflict, funding cuts, and community mistrust compound the crisis
Eastern DRC has been afflicted by armed conflict involving dozens of groups for decades. Violence against healthcare workers and attacks on treatment centres have been recorded in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, blocking access and complicating contact tracing.
Humanitarian funding for the DRC declined sharply in 2025, largely due to the Trump administration freezing foreign aid, which weakened local health systems and surveillance networks before the outbreak began. Delays in paying some response personnel have since been reported in several affected zones. WHO warned this could affect staff motivation and the continuity of response activities. Community mistrust and unsafe burial practices are also sustaining transmission chains.
The CDC projects the outbreak could reach at least 20,000 cases in a worst-case scenario without intervention. The Red Cross has said the epidemic has not yet peaked and could last a year.
The CDC has temporarily restricted US entry for travellers who were in the DRC within 21 days of their flight and advises avoiding all travel to Ituri and North Kivu provinces. No cases linked to this outbreak have been reported in the United States.
Whether the outbreak will spread further into Uganda or into neighbouring countries such as South Sudan and Rwanda is unknown. When, or whether, a vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus will become available at meaningful scale is also unclear. With transmission still outrunning detection and no medical tools specific to this strain, the outbreak is testing a health system already stretched beyond its limits.
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