Ebola cases in DR Congo reach 3,532, making it the second largest outbreak on record

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ministry of Communication and Media said in a statement on Friday, 31 July 2026 (9 Mordad 1405), that confirmed Ebola cases in the country have reached 3,532. That surpasses the country's 10th recorded outbreak, which ran from August 2018 to June 2020 with roughly 3,470 cases, making the current epidemic the second largest Ebola outbreak on record.

Data compiled by the Ministry of Public Health show 1,556 people have died from the virus, a case fatality rate of 44.1 percent. A further 807 patients remain in isolation or hospital and 626 have recovered. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said that less than three months since the outbreak began, the disease has killed five times as many people as previous outbreaks had by the same stage. Carl Skau, acting head of the UN World Food Programme, told Reuters: "It's the fastest spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen."

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. Medical staff are contending with a lack of security and attacks on health facilities across eastern DRC, alongside significant foreign aid cuts that have stretched resources. The Africa CDC said in June that containing the outbreak would require $1.4 billion, three times its earlier estimate, and the World Health Organization said the true scale could be up to four times higher than official figures. Five provinces are affected: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo. The largest outbreak on record remains the 2014 to 2016 West Africa epidemic, with 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths.