Democratic Republic of the Congo health authorities report that the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola virus epidemic has resulted in 7,733 confirmed cases and 3,732 deaths, remaining concentrated across eastern provinces as response teams confront persistent community transmission.
The outbreak, which was formally declared in Ituri province on May 15, 2026, though some health officials and experts say it may have started as earlier as January, has expanded into the country’s worst-ever epidemic of the virus. According to government and international reporting, the current crisis has surpassed the 2018–2020 epidemic in scale, making it the second-largest recorded outbreak in history behind only the 2014–2016 West African epidemic, which infected over 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Case Totals and Geographic Spread Across Eastern Provinces
Data compiled through late September 2026 place the confirmed caseload at 7,890, accompanied by 3,799 deaths, yielding a case fatality rate of 48.3 per cent according to Ministry of Health figures (from data up until 23 September). Recoveries have risen to 1,966 patients, while 893 individuals are hospitalised in isolation as European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reporting shows. An increase of 70 new confirmed cases and 20 deaths was reported since the previous report on 23 September.
Transmission remains heavily localized in the country’s eastern region. Ituri province bears the brunt of the epidemic with 6,032 cases, including 2,764 deaths, reported from 28 of 36 health zones. North Kivu follows as the second most impacted area, logging 1,480 cases, including 884 deaths, from 16 of 34 health zones. Additional cases and fatalities are distributed across Haut-Uélé (322 cases, including 130 deaths, reported from seven of 13 health zones), Tshopo (43 cases, including 15 deaths, from seven of 23 health zones), Bas-Uélé (eight cases, including four deaths, from three of 11 health zones), South Kivu (three cases, including one death, from one of 34 health zones), and Sud Ubangi (two cases and one death from one of 16 health zones), bringing the total number of affected health zones to 63 of 167 across seven provinces. A total of 55 health zones across five provinces remain classified as active transmission zones. A total of 61 newly confirmed cases were reported in Ituri (34), North Kivu (23) and Haut-Uélé (4), with Ituri and North Kivu accounting to 93.4 per cent of all newly reported cases.
Treatment Center Strain and Community Resistance Challenges
Response efforts continue to face operational bottlenecks on the ground. Humanitarian reports note that community deaths continue to account for the majority of newly reported deaths, highlighting ongoing challenges related to early detection, timely referral and access to care. These challenges are particularly relevant in settings affected by displacement, insecurity and population movement, where delays in seeking or accessing care may contribute to continued transmission.
Security issues, population displacement, and public mistrust further complicate containment. Health experts point out that weak surveillance systems, insecurity and community resistance have hampered efforts to identify and treat patients early. The World Health Organisation estimates that around 60% of deaths happen outside treatment centres, highlighting the challenges of detecting cases before patients succumb to the disease.
Vaccination Campaigns and Cross-Border Containment Measures
Because the specific Bundibugyo species of the virus has no approved vaccines or treatments, authorities have deployed alternative preventive measures. Congolese authorities recently began vaccinating frontline health workers with Merck’s Ervebo vaccine, which is licensed against the Zaire species of Ebola, and is believed to offer some cross-protection against Bundibugyo. Meanwhile, several vaccines are under development, including candidates from the University of Oxford and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
Contact tracing efforts track roughly 83.4% of identified case contacts under follow-up in the affected provinces.
International Importations and Global Risk Assessments
The outbreak has prompted international monitoring due to cross-border travel. In Uganda, a total of 20 cases were reported between May and June 2026 by the Ministry of Health. On 25 August, WHO declared the end of the outbreak following 42 days without a new confirmed case being reported.
Several imported cases linked to the DRC epidemic reached Europe and other regions earlier in the year. In May 2026, there was an imported case in a US citizen who was medically evacuated to Germany for treatment, and on 24 June 2026 a further imported case was reported in France by the Ministry of Health. Both cases were imported from areas affected by the ongoing outbreak in DRC. On 10 July 2026, the US CDC reported that a US citizen working for a humanitarian organisation in DRC had tested positive for Bundibugyo virus. The patient was medically evacuated to Germany on 13 July 2026. All three have since recovered.
According to ECDC modelling calculations, the risk of importation into the EU/EEA from the outbreak area remains very low. While sporadic importations cannot be excluded, the probability of multiple independent importations is very low, even in a pessimistic scenario whereby incidence continues to rise in the affected regions.