DR Congo: Ebola outbreak surpasses 1,500 deaths and spreads to five provinces

Ebola spreads through physical contact, particularly contact with bodily fluids. It causes a potentially fatal fever accompanied by diarrhea and bleeding.

Treatment capacity is unevenly distributed

WHO counts nearly 950 beds in isolation and treatment centers across the affected area. Their distribution does not always match local needs.

Occupancy in North Kivu has reached 136%. In Ituri, one-third of beds remain vacant, while waiting times have been reported in Bunia.

Conflict and displacement hinder the response

Limited information, distrust of the health system and treatment centers, and attacks on response workers are hampering efforts to contain the outbreak.

In the east of the country, hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sometimes lived for years in makeshift camps with poor sanitation and limited healthcare.

Malaria and cholera are also widespread in the region. Some of their symptoms resemble those of Ebola.

Rebel groups control areas of North Kivu and South Kivu. In Ituri, the ADF, an armed group allied with the Islamic State organization, attacks villages.

The conflict-data organization Acled has recorded at least about 1,100 civilian deaths this year in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri.

A targeted vaccine enters human trials

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus. No vaccine or medicine targeting this variant is yet available.

The first phase of human trials for an Oxford University vaccine against the variant began on July 24. Its developers say 620,000 doses are already available.

WHO recorded a 30% case fatality rate during an outbreak linked to this variant in Uganda in 2007. The rate reached 50% in Congo in 2012.

How this outbreak compares with earlier epidemics

Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme, the UN food-assistance agency, describes it as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever observed.

He noted on Wednesday that the West African outbreak took eight months to reach 1,000 deaths.

The 2014–2015 West African Ebola outbreak caused more than 11,000 deaths. The 2018–2020 outbreak in eastern Congo, the second-deadliest on record, caused about 2,300.

What remains uncertain

The total number of infections remains uncertain. WHO estimates that the true count is two to four times the number of laboratory-confirmed cases.

The place of transmission remains unknown for most new patients. The precise date when circulation began has not been established, although experts place it in February.

30 July 2026 at 11:41

30 July 2026 at 13:01