The fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) has reached 10,000 confirmed cases, government data showed on Tuesday, as health authorities race to slow the spread of the disease in multiple African countries.
It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history and nearly half of the 10,060 people confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from D.R.C.’s Ministry of Health.
That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history.
The outbreak declared in May is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
Response teams are battling armed conflict, poor roads and violence from residents fuelled by mistrust and misinformation. Those obstacles compound the challenge of persuading people to report symptoms and accept care in communities that have endured years of violence and repeated epidemics.
Compared to the West Africa Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016 — history’s largest and deadliest, with more than 28,000 cases, including more than 11,000 deaths — this has had at least three times the number of cases and deaths in the time since it was declared.
It has spread farther across Africa than any previous Ebola outbreak, reaching three regions, with cases recorded in Kenya and Nigeria as well.
It’s so far been recorded in five countries, including Uganda, which saw 21 cases and three deaths but no new reported cases since late June, and France, a case involving a doctor who returned from D.R.C. and later recovered in hospital.
A health worker attends to an Ebola patient at the Rwampara treatment centre in Ituri, D.R.C., on June 18. (Moses Sawasawa/The Associated Press)
A recurring problem in the spread in Africa is what appears to be lax surveillance efforts, as most of the first cases were confirmed long after people started showing symptoms or after travelling.
African health ministers are to hold a virtual summit on Wednesday to strengthen the continent’s collective response.
“Ebola is crossing borders. Our response must move faster, with stronger co-ordination, greater solidarity and decisive political leadership,” said Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Death rates for children much higher than for adults, WHO estimates, while others orphaned.
Ongoing community spread, many not seeking care
In D.R.C., the disease has spread to 66 health zones across eight provinces, from three zones when it was first declared in May.
Responders have told The Associated Press that they’re seeing treatment centres in some of those health zones being overwhelmed, and people still skeptical and violent toward them, and health workers are regularly going on strike to protest delayed or unpaid wages.
“Some people still don’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation, even though they are directly exposed to the risk,” said Sephora Bgosi with the Ebola burial team in Ituri province, the epicentre.
“Ebola disease is extremely dangerous and can be deadly,” said Bgosi.
About 80 per cent of recorded cases are still coming from outside of monitored contacts, showing there are ongoing chains of transmission that health authorities are not aware of.
At least 95 per cent of recorded cases are supposed to be coming from known contacts for officials to say the outbreak has largely been brought under control, the African CDC has said.
At least half of deaths recorded are among people who have not been admitted to treatment centres, a sign that people are still not reporting symptoms at all in many areas.
At least 2,600 patients have recovered from the disease in D.R.C., bringing rare moments of joy to affected communities. A viral video this week showed health workers in full protective gear dancing as the last two patients were discharged from a treatment centre in Mongbwalu, Ituri province.
“The outbreak is far from over, but every life saved is worth celebrating,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of the video.
Medical workers attacked, health services strained
In many zones, health workers are battling challenges ranging from basic needs such as adequate vehicles to complex ones like persuading families to release their relatives who are sick with the disease or who have died from it and need to be buried safely.
Last week at the Nia Nia health zone in Ituri province, some Ebola responders, including surveillance and community engagement officers, went on strike over unpaid bonuses owed since late August, a common trend across many affected localities.
More than five months since the outbreak was declared, health workers are still being attacked by angry villagers, including on Saturday when a nurse was killed and another health worker severely injured while responding to an Ebola alert in Bafwasende, Tshopo province.
The outbreak has disrupted essential health services that are already underfunded and overstretched and has shifted attention away from other disease outbreaks the country is battling, such as cholera— with more than 51,000 suspected cases reported in western D.R.C. since the beginning of 2026.
More pregnant women are dying as they avoid hospitals over fear of infection and isolation, causing maternal mortality to double in some provinces soon after the outbreak was declared.
It has also disrupted routine health-care services such as childhood vaccinations, interrupted schooling for children where millions are already out of school, caused trauma and stigma for affected families and further stretched the livelihoods of many already struggling with hardship.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is officially the deadliest in the country’s history, and health officials worry the crisis will only get worse when children return to school.
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