Deadly Haemorrhagic Fever Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo

The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—the country’s 17th since 1976—has resulted in more than 1,000 confirmed cases and over 250 deaths. The number of cases has risen faster for this outbreak than any other Ebola outbreak to date. The Red Cross says that the epidemic has not yet peaked and could last a year. The United States Centers for Disease Control projected the outbreak could reach at least 20,000 cases in a worst-case scenario without intervention. Areas at greatest risk are nearby provinces in eastern DRC, neighboring South Sudan, and the border regions of Uganda.

The outbreak is concentrated in northeastern DRC, with more than 97 percent of all cases in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu Provinces. Only 19 cases have been reported in neighboring Uganda, and they are largely associated with individuals who traveled from the affected regions in the DRC. Uganda’s public health system has actively responded to the outbreak—both in Uganda and across the border in the DRC—by supporting surveillance, testing, and care.

In addition to the lack of a proven vaccine for the Bundibugyo variant, the current Ebola response is particularly challenging because of the region’s remoteness and the ongoing insecurity caused by dozens of armed groups operating in the area. The outbreak is estimated to have circulated within the community for weeks—and possibly months–before it was detected and confirmed on May 15, 2026. Now, public health officials are racing to contain the spread, provide care, trace and monitor contacts, and deploy public health messaging campaigns throughout the region and neighboring countries.

Africa Center for Strategic Studies 

Health officials and humanitarian workers undergo temperature screening and handwashing before entering an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Ituri. (Photo: AFP/Jospin Mwisha)

 

 

"[Figures on the number of patients who have recovered and those being treated, as well as deaths, indicate 297 people who tested positive are unaccounted for]. This is a concern that we have. Where are these people?"

"[30% of new cases are among known contacts of confirmed cases, indicating] huge, huge community transmission." 

"[Bed occupancy in Ebola treatment centres is at 95% and] we didn’t reach the peak yet."

"[Camps in which displaced people were living] have cases, and because we don’t have access to these camps, we cannot have the contact tracing. We cannot have a photo of what’s happening there."

"We cannot stop this outbreak, without resolving the humanitarian issue."

Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

In a little over a month after the Ebola epidemic was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo, over 300 lives have been lost to the virus. Spreading through direct contact with bodily fluids, the deadly viral disease causes severe bleeding and organ failure in many of those morbidly afflicted. Out of 1,115 confirmed infections since its detection as an outbreak on May 15, 304 people have died in the Congo. This represents a mortality rate of 26.3 percent, according to the National Public Health Institute, an increase from the 202 deaths confirmed on June 18. At that time, the African Union's health agency confirmed 875 infections with a mortality rate of 23 percent.

 

The deadly haemorrhagic fever outbreak has yet to peak and it may continue to wreak havoc for up to a year as efforts to contain it are pursued, cautions the Red Cross. Hopeful news came in the form of  an announcement by Congolese authorities in early June that treatment of seven Ebola patients had resulted in a cure for that number. This is the 17th epidemic to wreak havoc on the huge, destabilized central African country. There are no approved vaccines or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus implicated in this latest Congo outbreak. 

 

Health workers disinfect a coffin at Kigonze displaced persons camp in Bunia, DRC last week. More than 1 million people live in similar camps to which health workers have no access. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters

 

 The situation has been hugely exacerbated by the fact that Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, the three outbreak-afflicted provinces in eastern Congo, have been for the past three decades mired in conflict resulting in miss displacement of people. A total of a million people living in refugee camps, many inaccessible to health workers, are vulnerable, given the circumstances. Neighbouring Uganda has employed successful containment measures after the outbreak spread there. Twenty confirmed cases were reported countrywide, including two deaths, since May 15; those infected mostly Congolese nationals travelling to Uganda.

 

A French-Congolese doctor working in the Congo for the international medical aid NGO ALIMA, became the outbreak's first confirmed case of Ebola outside Africa, France reported. Despite which according to the World Health Organization, there is minimal risk of the virus spreading in Europe, and no need to declare travel restrictions, which still led Air France to suspend all flights for several days to Kinshasa.

 

The mineral-rich province of Ituri is where the vast majority of Congolese cases have been detected; an area plagued with unrest linked to a bevy of rival armed groups causing frequent population movements. Creating the perfect storm to hasten the spread of the disease where over 91 percent of all infections have been registered in the provincial capital, Bunia, along with over 82 percent of all deaths. 

 

Health care facilities in Ituri lack basic equipment and supplies, including personal protective equipment and chlorine. Clinics organized by the WHO and aid agencies, are close to being overwhelmed by ebola patients. Up to 78 health care workers were infected with the virus, 18 of whom died of its effects. To complicate matters even further, leading to preventable transmission, medical aid workers have been confronted with deep mistrust from local communities.

 

Families which have demanded that hospitals release the bodies of the deceased, failing to comprehend that even touching the body places them at risk of contamination. In such environments, the readily-communicable virus is set to thrive as it moves from host to victim. 

 

Dz’na Lipe Jean‑Marie, secretary of Kpangba displacement camp in the DRC, holds an Ebola awareness session on 13 June 2026. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters

 

 

Bunia, DRC, the Perfect Breeding Ground for Ebola

"If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines."

"I've already heard of Ebola and it's a disease that scares me a lot."

"We displaced people here have no hygiene. Our children play next to filthy toilets and even relieve themselves on the ground, in the middle of the tarpaulins that serve as our homes."

Dorcas Mapenzi, Kingonze displaced tent camp, Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo 

 

"Given these conditions, how are we going to protect ourselves against this disease, when everyone tells us we need to distance ourselves to fight Ebola?"

"We sleep piled on top of each other, with everyone's sweat."

"If a single person gets infected here in this camp, everyone will die."

Deborah Nzale, widowed family head, Kingonze camp, Bunia, Ituro Province, DR Congo

DR Congo is the epicentre of the outbreak though a few cases have been detected in Uganda  Getty Images

 

"Two weeks after the declaration of the Ebola disease outbreak in Ituri Province, the situation is deeply alarming."

"Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration. [Teams on the ground were] witnessing a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic."

"The reality today is that nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak. New suspected cases are being reported daily, yet hundreds of samples remain untested."

MSF deputy director Dr Alan Gonzales  

According to the military governor of Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are roughly 61 displaced persons camps in the area, within which are close to 970,000 people being housed. "We need to deploy equipment and qualified specialist medical staff as quickly as possible, to spare this province from disaster", stated Lt. Gen. Johnny Luboya Nkashama. Certainly, the fearful people in those camps having been alerted by posters at camp entrances that warn "Ebola really kills", would be grateful. 

 

In the Kingonze camp alone, where Dorcas Mapenzi, Deborah Nzale and Budjo Amos reside with other family groups, their elders and their children, a total of 25,000 people are co-housed. They are there, far from their native towns and villages, displaced by conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Having fled proximity to the conflict, they now face another enemy whose death count may be higher than the potential threats from the conflict they fled.

 

WHO/Joël Lumbala The Rwampara General Referral Hospital in Ituri Province, DR Congo.

 

Since conditions in the camp are absolutely horrendous in terms of infection potential, if government health agencies fail to move quickly to ameliorate the vulnerability situation of the people crammed into those sites, the results could be phenomenally devastating. Medical assistance and supplies are coming into the country and into Uganda from other countries better equipped to deal with such emergencies, but nature can be unforgiving in the pathogens she throws around that wreak havoc on animals, including humans.

 

The central African country's east, where decades of armed conflicts forced millions of civilians from their homes has created the perfect storm. Ituri province has both armed militia groups battling one another and hordes of people driven from their homes in the impoverished DRC. The World Health Organization warned that the eastern DRC "faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict"; fighting in the affected province interferes with efforts to try to manage the epidemic. 

 

There have been 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since an Ebola outbreak was declared on May15 by the WHO, with another thousand suspected and confirmed cases up to May 24. Although no cases of infection have been recorded as yet at the Kingonze camp built in 2018, conditions are optimum for the disease where infection through close physical contact and bodily fluids, can prey on the unprotected. In tarpaulin shelters measuring three square meters, up to nine people live crammed together.

 

The strain of Ebola -- Bundibugyo -- responsible for this latest outbreak, lacks a vaccine or any measure of treatment, leaving efforts to contain its spread reliant for the most part on protective measures and rapid contact tracing. Clearly those measures are absent from the Kingonze camp, and likely most other camps in the province as well. No protective gear has reached Kingonze's displaced residents. 

 

With a single borehole in the entire camp to draw  up water, the tap flows for just a few hours daily. The Congolese state's slow response to the outbreak hasn't helped. Regional hospitals lack essential equipment, in particular isolation tents for affected patients.   

"People looking to raise awareness come through here with messages but, surprisingly, we don't have the kit we need to protect ourselves." 

"I don't even have soap to wash my hands."

"The most urgent thing is to give us clean water. The state has to intervene urgently."

Budjo Amos, displaced man, Kingonze camp  

 

"The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) reaffirm their strong partnership and shared commitment to protect the health and well-being of the people of Ituri Province and the nation at large, following the joint mission to Bunia led by Dr Samuel Roger Kamba, Minister of Health, Mr. Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Minister of Communication and Medias, and the visit of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus."

"While the Bundibugyo strain presents additional challenges, including the absence of a licensed vaccine or specific treatment, proven public health measures remain effective in slowing transmission and potential full recovery. The Ministry of Health, WHO and partners are working to rapidly undertake randomized control trials on candidate vaccines and treatments."

"Persistent challenges include early detection and isolation of cases, contact tracing, safe and dignified burials, robust infection prevention and control in health facilities, and strong community awareness. The Government and WHO call on all communities to continue adopting protective behaviours, including regular hand hygiene, early care seeking in health facilities, and sharing accurate information."

"The DRC brings unparalleled experience to this response, having successfully contained multiple previous Ebola outbreaks. This experience, combined with strong political leadership at the highest level of the State and renewed international solidarity, provides a firm foundation for bringing the current outbreak under control."

Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO)