Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo Passes 1,000 Cases
Last update: June 22, 2026
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It is spreading fast, and now the youngest victims are paying the price.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has just crossed a worrying line.
More than 1,000 people have now been infected, with the virus reaching a third displacement camp and claiming the life of an 18-month-old girl, according to official reports, cbinews.tv reports.
Late on Sunday, Congo’s government put the confirmed death toll at 254. That is more than a month since authorities declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain.
Health experts across Africa are concerned. The speed at which the virus is moving through three provinces in eastern Congo has led to warnings that this outbreak could eventually rival the West Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016.
The toddler’s case shows how quickly things can unravel. She was tested for Ebola on 14 June in the Hungbe displacement camp but died before the positive result came back the next day, a Congolese health report seen by reporters showed.
She had developed a fever more than a week earlier. Her family carried her on foot to two different health centres where she was given antibiotics before anyone tested her for Ebola, a Congolese official and the report said.
At least 107 people came into contact with her. That includes family members, healthcare workers and people from other camps.
Facilities to isolate patients are in short supply, said Dr Emmanuel Musingusi Bulemu, a Congolese health official in the surrounding Nizi zone.
The virus is not staying in one place. Two confirmed cases have now turned up in Kpangba, another displacement camp in the same area. These camps house people who have fled decades of conflict between armed groups, militias and the army.
At least 30 people have died in another displacement site in Bunia.
Children are being hit hard. Nearly a fifth of confirmed cases so far are children, according to preliminary data from UNICEF, the UN children’s agency.
A smaller number of cases have also been reported in neighbouring Uganda.
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