An Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed 1,707 people and infected 3,802 since it was declared on May 15, 2026, making it the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease ever recorded.
The World Health Organization reports that Ituri province accounts for 89.6 percent of confirmed cases, with additional spread into North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé and Tshopo. Cases have reached Kisangani, one of Congo's largest cities.
The virus behind the outbreak is Bundibugyo, one of six known species of Ebolavirus. Unlike the more familiar Zaire strain, Bundibugyo has no approved vaccine and no targeted treatment.
Why the numbers are rising so fast
By comparison, the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, which ultimately killed more than 11,000 people, took roughly eight months to reach 1,000 deaths. Congo's current outbreak has moved past that mark far more quickly.
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Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya has said contact tracing is not keeping pace, with roughly 60 to 70 percent of new infections now coming from community spread rather than known chains of transmission. Patient zero, the first infection in the outbreak, has not been identified.
Health workers have been hit hard. The WHO count lists 119 confirmed infections among health workers, with 36 deaths, a case fatality rate of about 30 percent in that group. Overall case fatality in Congo stands at 39 percent, according to WHO.
Armed conflict in eastern Congo, illegal mining, community mistrust and strikes over unpaid wages have all slowed the response. A new 100-bed treatment center opened in Bunia this week, part of about 900 response beds now available across the five affected provinces.
A first vaccine trial is underway
There is currently no vaccine licensed against Bundibugyo virus. The Ervebo vaccine, which is used against the Zaire strain, does not provide enough cross-protection for WHO to recommend it in this outbreak.
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Trials of the first Bundibugyo-specific candidate vaccine, ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India, began in the United Kingdom on July 24.
and a second trial has since started in Canada. Two clinical trials of post-exposure prophylaxis drugs are running in Ituri.
What Bundibugyo is, and how it spreads
Ebolaviruses spread person to person through contact with blood or other body fluids from someone who is sick or has died, and through contaminated surfaces.
Early symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding. The incubation period can run up to 21 days.
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The Bundibugyo species was first identified in Uganda in 2007. Historical outbreaks have shown case fatality rates around 25 to 50 percent, in the range now being seen in Ituri.
The picture for American travelers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed Ituri and North Kivu at Level 4, "avoid all travel," and Haut-Uélé and Tshopo at Level 3, "reconsider nonessential travel." All other DRC provinces sit at Level 2, "enhanced precautions."
Under current U.S. entry rules, people who have been in DRC within the past 21 days are barred from boarding commercial flights to the United States, and CDC advises U.S. citizens in the country to wait 21 days after leaving an affected area before returning home and to monitor themselves for symptoms during that period.
No cases from this outbreak have been reported in the United States to date, and CDC assesses the overall risk to the U.S. population as very low.
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Anyone returning from an affected area who develops fever or other symptoms consistent with Ebola should isolate and contact a healthcare provider before traveling to a clinic or emergency room.
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