The Democratic Republic of the Congo faces the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic in history, with confirmed cases reaching 5,794 and 2,786 deaths as the outbreak expands into two new health zones in North Kivu, prompting urgent international warnings and targeted vaccination efforts.
Spread of Bundibugyo virus in North Kivu
The epidemic caused by the Bundibugyo virus has now reached Biena and Manguredjipa, two new health zones in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North Kivu province. According to data released by the Ministry of Health on Friday, the outbreak spans 60 affected areas nationwide. While the overall national case fatality rate stands at 48 percent, the fatality rate in Biena and Manguredjipa is much higher, in part due to delayed response efforts, according to data by the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Health said the outbreak in DRC has recorded 5,794 confirmed cases, including 2,786 deaths, and is spreading at an unprecedented speed – faster than efforts to track and slow it. Government figures published on Friday show cases have spread to Biena and Manguredjipa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s North Kivu province. Sixty zones are now battling the rare strain of Ebola and cases have soared to 5,794, with 2,786 deaths.
Efforts to contain the outbreak have been hampered by armed conflict in the affected provinces, displacement, attacks on medical personnel and facilities, a mobile working population, and a lack of critical infrastructure. The outbreak is now on track to surpass the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record – the 2014 to 2016 outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people. Conditions surrounding the outbreak, including a healthcare worker strike, large population displacement and migration, and mistrust and insecurity, are also posing challenges to containment. The World Health Organization has reported that it remained out of control and was on track to surpass the outbreak of Ebola that struck West Africa between 2014 and 2016, the deadliest ever recorded, which caused more than 11,000 deaths, primarily in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, aid group Doctors Without Borders – known by its French acronym MSF – said on Friday it had opened a new treatment centre in Beni in North Kivu in the country’s northeast to enable a faster response in what it said was one of the hardest-hit areas. Beni has recorded 122 confirmed cases and 87 deaths since the start of the outbreak in mid-May.
IHR Emergency Committee meeting on Ebola Bundibugyo virus
The World Health Organization (WHO) is transmitting the report of the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee regarding the epidemic of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus (BVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), held on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, from 12:00 to 17:00 CEST. The Director-General determined that the BVD epidemic in the DRC continues to meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), but not those of a pandemic emergency. Accordingly, on 24 August 2026, the Director-General, considering the advice offered by the Committee, issued temporary recommendations to States Parties.
The Committee commends the Government of Uganda for the rapid control of BVD transmission, with no new cases detected since 16 July 2026, and recognizes the major efforts being undertaken by the DRC, affected communities, WHO and national and international partners. Nevertheless, the Committee considers the continuing rapid growth and geographic expansion of the epidemic in the DRC to be of grave concern, requiring urgent, intensified and sustained action. As of 18 August 2026, approximately 5,000 BVD cases have been reported in the DRC.
Vaccination campaign using Ervebo in the DRC
The DRC began vaccinating health workers and other frontline personnel on Thursday, prioritising those most exposed to the virus. The campaign began in Kisangani and is being extended to frontline workers involved in the Ebola response. The vaccine being used, Ervebo, is licensed against the Zaire species of Ebola, while the current outbreak is caused by the less common Bundibugyo virus. There is currently no approved vaccine specifically for the strain responsible for the outbreak. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has allocated 70,000 doses of Ervebo to DRC, with 50,000 intended for frontline and health workers and 20,000 for a clinical trial to assess the vaccine’s impact against Bundibugyo. Clinical trials are currently in progress.
No cases of Ebola have been detected in the US this year, but two American aid workers infected in the DRC were treated in Germany. The US has issued its highest level travel warning for affected areas in the DRC, advising against all travel to these areas. In Europe, a Congolese doctor who had been treating patients in outbreak-hit areas fell ill halfway through a flight from the DRC to France and was quarantined on arrival. Three people in Italy and one person in the UK were also hospitalized with suspected Ebola infections, although these later turned out to be false alarms.
