Ebola Deaths Surpass 2,000 in Congo

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has described this as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.

Red Cross workers walk in a formation as they disinfect Rwampara general hospital before handling the body of a person who died of Ebola, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Congo, on May 21, 2026. Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters

The number of Ebola fatalities in Congo has surpassed 2,000, in what the United Nations has described as the fastest-spreading Ebola virus it has seen.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, also known as Institut National de Santé Publique (INSP), as of Aug. 9, 4,381 cases have been identified, with 2,011 deaths recorded.

The case fatality rate is 45.9 percent, the INSP said in an Aug. 11 LinkedIn post, with the contact tracing rate at 86.7 percent.

To date, 704 patients are in isolation or hospitalized, and 869 people have been cured since the beginning of the epidemic, the institute said.

The disease has been identified in five provinces: Haut-Uélé, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Tshopo.

“Transmission remains active in Ituri, North Kivu and Haut-Uélé, with Ituri remaining the main epicentre,” the INSP said. “In South Kivu, 74 days have passed without a new confirmed case.”

The INSP said that responses in the affected areas are being strengthened, particularly in Ituri.

The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus. It was first detected in mid-May, and several international and national groups have traveled to the infected areas to try to contain its spread.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people can contract Ebola if their mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth, or their broken skin, come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated objects.

Ebola does not spread like respiratory viruses such as influenza; a person cannot become infected by being near someone with the disease.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has previously described the situation as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.

Delays in detection, a lack of treatment for this virus, and military conflict have allowed the disease to outrun containment efforts.

‘Outpacing Response’

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa CDC have called for an urgent acceleration of responses to Ebola in Congo, including better, earlier detection; improved access to care; and support for frontline health workers.

“In some areas of eastern DRC, the Ebola outbreak is outpacing our response, making it imperative that we rapidly scale up every aspect of our efforts to contain it,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an Aug. 6 statement, using the initials of the official name of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Tedros also called for stronger international support and greater resources to fight the spread of the disease.

“Containing and ultimately stopping this outbreak will come from communities,” Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, said in an Aug. 6 statement.

“When people have information they trust, can report symptoms early and seek care without fear, we can break every chain of transmission.

“Our responsibility is to bring the response closer to communities and give frontline teams the support they need.”

Health workers at Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, Congo, on July 3, 2026. Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo

In July, government data from Congo showed that the Ebola outbreak was now the world’s second-largest on ‌record, with only West Africa’s 2014 to 2016 outbreak being bigger.

That epidemic saw 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths recorded across ​Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

“It’s the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ​ever seen,” said acting head of the U.N. World Food Programme Carl Skau.