The ongoing epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has officially become the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history, surpassing the country’s 2018–2020 epidemic. Officials from the DRC Ministry of Communication and Media confirmed that cases surpassed 3,500, eclipsing the roughly 3,470 cases recorded during the 10th outbreak.
Second-Largest Ebola Outbreak on Record
According to data compiled by the Ministry of Public Health, confirmed cases reached 3,532 with 1,556 deaths, establishing a case fatality rate of 44.1 percent. By August, cumulative totals reported nationally had climbed to 3,973 confirmed cases, 1,801 deaths, and 776 recoveries across 51 health zones in five provinces, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which genomic sequencing indicates has been circulating since mid-February rather than mid-May, when officials first suspected the virus in Bunia. Initial testing failed to detect the strain, leading to many cases being misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid fever before the UMN.
Described by Carl Skau, acting head of the United Nations World Food Programme, as the fastest spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen,
the virus has killed five times as many people in its first three months as previous outbreaks had by the same stage, based on reports from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Only the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone was larger, recording 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths.
Geographic Spread and Hard-Hit Zones
The epidemic remains centered in Ituri province in northeastern DW, near the borders with South Sudan and Uganda. Ituri accounts for nearly 90% of confirmed cases in the country. The Bunia–Rwampara–Mongbwalu–Nizi corridor serves as the principal transmission focus, with additional affected health zones spanning North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces.
The virus has also reached regions affected by prolonged conflict. The spread includes North Kivu and South Kivu, where large areas remain under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group amid ongoing instability in the eastern regions.
Children younger than five years old have experienced disproportionately high mortality. While accounting for fewer than one in ten confirmed cases nationally, young children represent approximately 17% of all confirmed deaths, suffer the highest case fatality ratios of any age group, and experience the shortest interval between symptom onset and death.
Response Challenges and Operational Gaps
Medical personnel are contending with multiple hurdles, including a lack of security, attacks on health facilities across the eastern DRC where dozens of armed groups operate, significant foreign aid cuts that have stretched resources, and worker strikes. Furthermore, the Bundibugyo strain currently lacks any approved vaccine or treatment.
Response efforts are further strained by low contact tracing metrics. Contact follow-up stood at 75%, falling short of the operational target of at least 95% required to rapidly identify transmission chains and detect new cases among known contacts. Additionally, 60% to 70% of deaths are occurring within communities rather than treatment centers, exposing family and community members who care for patients.
Treatment-centre occupancy in North Kivu reached 139%, placing severe pressure on available beds, health workers, and response operations. In Bunia, health centers have become overrun, with patients often arriving too sick for meaningful medical intervention.
To combat the spread, experimental vaccine research is underway. The WHO identified a candidate vaccine developed by Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories as a promising prospect, while a separate Bundibugyo vaccine developed by the University of Oxford administered its first dose to a volunteer in a clinical trial. Joint high-level missions by the WHO and Africa CDC continue to call for an urgent scale-up of community-led responses, improved early detection, enhanced contact tracing, and faster delivery of resources to affected areas.
