Ebola Cases Pass 6000 In DR Congo in Worst Outbreak Ever Recorded
Last update: August 31, 2026
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More than 6000 confirmed cases and nearly 3000 deaths. DR Congo is now facing the biggest Ebola outbreak in its history and this time there is no approved vaccine to stop it.
Government data released on Monday shows confirmed infections have risen to 6041 with 2911 deaths, according to a post by the communication ministry on X. That means almost one in two people infected has died.
Officials say this is now officially the largest outbreak the central African country has ever seen, overtaking the previous worst outbreak that ran from 2018 to 2020 in the east of the country which killed more than 2200 people.
What makes this one even more worrying is the strain involved. This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, first identified in Uganda in 2007. Unlike the Zaire strain that caused the West Africa epidemic and the 2018 to 2020 Congo outbreak, there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for Bundibugyo. Scientists are working on it, but for now response teams have to rely on classic public health measures.
Response teams are active in six provinces, with the heaviest focus on Ituri, North Kivu and Haut Uele in the east. These are provinces that have faced years of conflict, displacement and weak health infrastructure, which makes contact tracing and isolation hugely difficult.
Some context for you. DR Congo has seen around 15 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first discovered near the Ebola River in 1976. The country sits in the heart of the Congo Basin rainforest where spillover from wildlife is more likely. The 2018 to 2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri lasted almost two years and was only the second largest in the world after the 2014 to 2016 West Africa outbreak that killed over 11000 people.
The Bundibugyo strain generally has a lower case fatality rate than Zaire, historically around 30 to 50 per cent, but the current figures from Kinshasa suggest this outbreak is at the higher end of that range.
With cases still climbing, health authorities are urging vigilance across borders too.
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