Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have climbed to 11,042, according to government data, with at least 5,387 deaths. The figures were released on Tuesday as health authorities work to contain what is the most severe outbreak the country has recorded.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus. It now ranks as the second-largest and second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, behind only the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000.
Spread across the DRC and wider Africa
Eight of the country’s 26 provinces have been affected, and many deaths have occurred outside treatment centres. Cases have also been reported in East, Central and West Africa, the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent so far.
Why containment remains difficult
Delayed detection, conflict and strained health services have allowed the virus to spread faster than in earlier outbreaks. No vaccine or treatment has yet been developed for the Bundibugyo strain, which kills about half of those it infects.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization approved clinical trials of two new Ebola vaccines and said it expected results in early 2027.
